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http://www.omniture.com --> Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Advertisement Email Story to a Friend May 7, 2006 'Gumption' takes senior musician far By JOHN DARLING for the Mail Tribune ASHLAND — Gumption took Ashland High School senior and classical guitarist Jaxon Williams to Oregon's top spot in solo competition two years straight, says his teacher, Joe Thompson. After studying under Thompson since age 12, Williams as a sophomore didn't even place in his first try at the annual Oregon Music Educators competition for high schoolers in Salem, Thompson said. "Jaxon came to me and said, 'I'm going to come back and win this,'" said Thompson. "It really opened his eyes to how strong the competition is. He picked a piece — 'Leyenda' by Isaac Albeniz — that I thought was over his head, but I gave my approval and he won last year with it." Williams, an honor student with letters in football linebacker and track-field discus, shot put, javelin, heads off to Brigham Young University this fall with a full-ride scholarship, shooting for a career as a classical guitar performer and professor of music. In his high school music career, Williams sang in the chamber choir, soloed with a Vivaldi piece with the school orchestra, played in the school jazz band, composed a fugue, then a theme and variations for strings. He also played electric guitar in blues, rock and "anything I can get my hands on" as part of a band called Ben Wilde, Williams said. The band this year won the school's talent show and its Battle of the Bands. But classical is a very different animal than electric guitar, one that demands "huge amounts of control, finesse, strength, precision and knuckling down every day," said Thompson, an Ashland classical guitarist and teacher since 1973. After Williams won state last year, he was under "immense pressure" from others who wanted to snatch his crown, said Thompson. But gumption and a lot of support from his family, especially his mother Ronda Williams, a piano teacher, took him to the top state award this spring, playing Bach's Fourth Lute Suite and Emilio Pujol's El Abejorro "Bumblebee", a difficult piece that requires much rapid finger movement. Why this intense focus on the classical guitar, while keeping up other studies and showing extensive athleticism? "When you learn a piece," said Williams, "it's a puzzle you figure out, learning the left and right fingerings, and when you figure it out, you make the piece yours by putting in your expression in your own unique way." Complex, classical guitar is not purely mathematical, though. "It's really relaxing. If I'm stressed out, I practice till I get in the zone, getting to be almost part of the music," Williams said. As for athletics, Williams said he will just have fun with it, competing intramurally at BYU. That university will also "help me keep my religious standards, as well as my academics," he said. Noting Williams' "gifts in so many different directions," Thompson predicted a stellar career for his student. Williams' music theory and composition teacher Russ Otte said, "Why wouldn't any community want to celebrate this wonderful young man, who met the challenge to repeat as state champion? He's limited only by what he's willing to achieve." Advertisement s Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker Custom Build Computers Discount Hotel Reservations online casinos news Ashley Furniture HomeStore Send Flowers Southern Oregon Loans California Casinos GMAT Prep Windermere Van Vleet Sports Equipment Online Casino Reviews Online Bingo Entertainment Guide Online Casino Fundraisers Sudoku Online Casinos Canada Online Pharmacy