Betty Jackson King

Betty Jackson King (Feb 17, 1928 – June 1, 1994) was an American pianist, singer, educator, choral conductor, and composer. She was best known for her vocal works.[1]

Biography

King was born in 1928 in Chicago.[2] She first started learning music from her mother, Gertrude Jackson Taylor.[3] King's father, a pastor at the Community Church of Woodlawn, helped expose her to church hymns and spirituals.[4] Along with her mother and sister Catherine, she sang in the Jacksonian Trio.[3][1]

She was married to Vincent King and had a daughter, Rochelle.[3]

King died on June 1, 1994 in Wildwood, New Jersey.[3]

Education

Betty Jackson King actively studied throughout her life. She began at Wilson Junior College studying under Ester Goetz Gilliland. She then went to the Chicago Musical College of Roosevelt University where she earned a bachelors in piano and a masters in composition from the Chicago Musical College of Roosevelt University.[3][5][1] Here she studied different aspects of music: voice with the highly respected Thelma Waide Brown, composition with Hans Tischler and Karel Jirak, and piano with Saul Dorfman.[6][1]

She also studied music at Glassboro College in New Jersey, Oakland University in Michigan, Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey, and the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, Maryland.[6][1]

King went on to teach at the University of Chicago Laboratory School, Roosevelt University, Dillard University, and Wildwood High School.,[7][1] where she received the Teaching Recognition Award from governor Thomas Kean.[3]

She was president of the National Association of Negro Musicians from 1970-1984.[2]

King retired from teaching in 1989.[4]

Selected works

King's compositions were often vocal in nature.[4] Her music is part of the "early Chicago classical music tradition" and similar to Margaret Bonds.[8] King wrote arrangements of spirituals, operas (Saul of Tarsus, My Servant Job), a cantata (Simon of Cyrene) and a requiem.[5][9] She wrote a ballet, Kids in School With Me, and various other chamber and choral compositions.[9] Her works for organ include Nuptial Suite and Meditation.[8][10] Saul of Tarsus has had several performances since it was premiered in 1952.[11]

References
  1. Walker-Hill, Helen (1992). Piano Music by Black Women Composers: A Catalogue of Solo and Ensemble Works. Wesport, CT: Greenwood Press. pp. 48–51.
  2. Brass Music of Black Composers: A Bibliography. Greenwood Publishing Group. 1996. p. 164. ISBN 978-0-313-29826-4.
  3. Gray, Anne. (2007). The World of Women in Classical Music. La Jolla, Calif.: WordWorld. pp. 210. ISBN 978-1-59975-320-1. OCLC 123539910.
  4. Ammer, Christine (2001). Unsung: A History of Women in American Music. Hal Leonard Corporation. pp. 180–181. ISBN 978-1-57467-061-5.
  5. "Introducing: Betty Jackson King". Ebony. 37 (12): 160, 162. October 1982 – via Google Books.
  6. Walker-Hill, Helen (1992). "Black Women Composers in Chicago: Then and Now". Black Music Research Journal. 12 (1): 15. doi:10.2307/779279. ISSN 0276-3605. JSTOR 779279.
  7. "King". Song of America. Retrieved December 8, 2019.
  8. Ritter, Carol (June 16, 2015). "Cultural Influences of Organ Music Composed by African American Women". The College Music Symposium. 55. doi:10.18177/sym.2015.55.sr.10872.
  9. Kernodle, Tammy Lynn; Maxile, Horace Joseph (2011). Encyclopedia of African American Music. ABC-CLIO. p. 232. ISBN 978-0-313-34199-1.
  10. King, Betty Jackson (2000). "Meditation". In Terry, Mickey Thomas (ed.). The African-American Organ Music Anthology. 1. Fenton, Mo.: MorningStar Music Publishers of St. Louis.
  11. Simmons, Margaret R.; Wagner, Jeanine F. (2004). A New Anthology of Art Songs by African American Composers. SIU Press. p. 196. ISBN 978-0-8093-2523-8.
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