IRIS SMOOT/Acorn Newspapers PASSIONATE PERFORMER—The son of a science teacher and an aerospace engineer, Cameron O'Connor put his good genes to use in a more free-spirited direction: playing music. Award-winning classical guitarist Cameron O'Connor didn't grow up in a musical household. In fact, with a science teacher for a mom, an aerospace engineer for a dad and an older brother with a degree in chemical engineering, it's a wonder O'Connor didn't become a rocket scientist.

But O'Connor, 21, was always more "band nerd" than "science geek," even since his early schoolboy days. The Simi native was just 7 years old when he picked up his first guitar, unaware that the sixstringed instrument would turn out to be his calling.

"I started playing Beatles stuff with my dad, who's kind of like an amateur guitarist, and then as I grew up and became more rebellious I started playing rock music," he said.

His love for the guitar only grew in his teenage years, when O'Connor and a group of friends started a 1980s cover band called Untapped, which later transitioned into a funk band called The Funk Capacitor.

He developed his musical ability in school, too, first playing clarinet at Hillside Middle School. He kept at the woodwind instrument all through junior high and high school, performing in wind ensembles and the Royal Highlanders marching band.

But he was still dedicated to the guitar, practicing his technique in Royal's jazz band.

In 2005, when it came time to choose the career path he would follow after graduation, the 17year-old chose music—more specifically, classical guitar.

While he'd dabbled in all genres, classical music seemed like the serious thing to do, he said.

It wasn't easy, however, making the jump from traditional to classical guitar.

"It's a completely different instrument. I had to relearn lots of things," he said. "It was at that time where I said I'm going to do this for my life . . . so I had that fear in me and I was really inspired to work hard because of that."

The hard work has paid off, with O'Connor now finishing his senior year at Cal State Northridge. But his parents weren't thrilled at first by his decision to pursue music full-time. They would have preferred he just keep it as a hobby, he said.

"I think they'd rather listen to Van Halen or something like that than go see a Beethoven symphony," he said with a laugh.

While his parents' support for his musical ambitions has grown with his success, he said, their lack of knowledge of the music world made O'Connor himself the force behind his learning process.

"A lot of friends I have that are musicians have musician parents and so they grew up and at age 5 could play piano," O'Connor said. "And it wasn't like that for me at all. It was me just doing everything I can to inform myself."

As a consequence of his efforts to get his parents more interested in classical music, he's turned into a champion for the genre. O'Connor believes classical music shouldn't be inaccessible or for the elite only, which is why last summer he spent his weekends playing classical duets on Main Street in Ventura with a violinist friend.

"I think the biggest problem classical music faces is the population at large . . . thinks of classical music as what people get dressed up in tuxedos and ride in their Bentleys to go see," he said. "You need to make it relevant for people."

Though O'Connor said he would be happy to play Bach the rest of his life, contemporary musicians like Spanish composer Joaquin Rodrigo have rhythmic dance beats that are more appealing to today's audiences.

O'Connor has played both old and new music during his solo and chamber concerts and, judging by the list of awards on his resume, he must be doing something right.

In addition to winning First Prize in the Appalachian International Guitar Competition, he's won or been a finalist or prizewinner in the Antelope Valley Symphony Orchestra and Master Chorale J.S. Bach Competition, the Randy Rhoads Memorial Guitar Competition, and, most recently, the Portland International Guitar Competition.

He was also the first guitarist in CSUN's history to win the Concerto Competition, where, at age 18, he played Rodrigo's Concierto Aranjuez. He's played the concerto, with different orchestras, throughout Southern California.

Ron Borczon, professor of music therapy and classical guitar at CSUN, has been teaching O'Connor since he was a junior in high school.

"He was a very talented musician when he first came to me. As time went on I could see he had a great amount of potential," Borczon said.

The music instructor said the classical guitar is more difficult because it demands a specific technique and there is no amplification like with an electric guitar. He said getting a good sound out of the instrument depends solely on how the player physically strikes the string, using his nails instead of a pick.

Although graduation is on the horizon, O'Connor doesn't plan to leave school just yet. He has applied to four graduate schools: Juilliard, Yale University, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and Mannes College. Thus far, he's been accepted by the latter two.

His ultimate plan is to get a doctoral degree and then a job teaching at a conservatory, all while continuing to put on concerts and performing in competitions.

The schools he hasn't yet heard from are extremely selective— Yale is only taking one guitarist and Juilliard is taking two—but O'Connor remains unwavering in his dreams.

"I think the big thing (to my success) is holding myself to my own standards. As long as my standards continue to rise, I'll be happy," he said.

To hear O'Connor's music, go online to www.myspace.com/ cameronoconnorguitar. He also performs at the American Guitar Society meetings at CSUN on the first Saturday of every month.