Arts Student of the Week Anastasia Williams

As a young girl, Anastasia Williams loved the sound of the flute. "I can't remember a time when it wasn't my favorite instrument," Williams said. "When I was in third grade, I started taking flute lessons--my arms were finally long enough to be able to play it properly--and I have been playing ever since."

Williams loves music, she said, "because it is emotion and math blended together into a harmonious whole. I enjoy making music because I will never be able to do it perfectly, because there is always more to learn about playing music."

"Anastasia is finishing up her last semester of high school and has had a wonderful season of auditioning for honor bands," said Niwot High band director Wade Hendricks, who selected Williams as Arts Student of the Week.

She auditioned and was accepted into several honor bands. "It is fun playing in honor bands because everyone is very good at their instrument and excited to learn more," she said. "It is always amazing how quickly we can get pieces together for the concerts. Oftentimes it is after less than a day of playing together."

One of Williams' inspirations has been listening to songs played by James Galway. "He is very good at playing the flute and listening to him inspires me to work harder at being good at my flute," she said. She enjoys playing French style music and Claude Debussy is her favorite composer. "It means I don't have to have a strict tempo," she said. "He wrote a lot of interesting pieces. Most of them have fun key signatures, like G flat major. Granted, most everyone else would say the key signatures are excessively hard, but to me they are fun."

Williams has enjoyed being in the Niwot High School band, and she believes that Hendricks is good at picking out songs that are interesting and challenging to play, and that drive students to become better at playing their instruments. "Everyone is very nice and friendly, but they are also interested in learning how to be good musicians," she said.

Altogether, her experience at the high school has been very enjoyable, not just in the music program, but in all her classes. "I love the community of Niwot High," she said, "and how everyone is so kind."

"She is one of the top 3 or 4 players in the area," Hendricks said. "I know this has not come without a good deal of work. Anastasia leads by example and has shown the dedication to her instrument and to the Niwot Bands program to help us maintain a high level of achievement."

When Williams is not practicing flute, she enjoys reading and writing. She is currently working on writing a book that she hopes to have published in the future once it is completed. She also enjoys handcrafts such as crochet, embroidery, and tatting (making lace).

Although she will definitely attend college, Williams is not yet sure where she'd like to go. "I have a lot of options," Williams said. Once she settles on a college, she plans to major in Computer Science and English.