Betty Jackson King

(1928-1994)

Composer, Choral Director, Educator, Keyboard Artist, Lecturer, and Publisher

"Over my head, I hear music in the air. There must be a God somewhere."

Betty Jackson King accepted this as her creed. Music was her life. She lived it, expressed it, expanded it and above all shared it.

Betty, and her sister (Catherine Jackson Adams), often heard Negro spirituals being sung at Southern Christian Institute near Vicksburg, Mississippi where her mother (Gertrude Jackson Taylor), taught music. These spirituals so influenced Betty that much of her music repertoire in later life included arrangements of these spirituals.

Upon the family's return to Chicago, Betty grew in faith and her music always reflected this. She earned her B.A. in piano and Masters Degree in Composition from Chicago Musical College of Roosevelt University. Her thesis for her Masters, the opera, "Saul of Tarsus", was an expression of her faith. She developed this abiding faith from her father (the Reverend Frederick D. Jackson) who was always a staunch supporter and wrote the libretto for each of her three religious operas.

Betty shared her talents with young people - first, as a teacher in the Chicago Public School system and the Laboratory School, University of Chicago, The Pre-Professional Choral Ensemble, and later, as a Professor at Dillard University, New Orleans, Louisiana. She also served as a mentor to many youth desirous of pursuing a musical career.

Betty possessed many gifts.... composer, musician, arranger, to name a few. She organized and directed the singing ensemble The Betty Jackson King Artist's who performed throughout the Chicagoland area. As a church musician, she is remembered by several Chicago choirs such as: Quinn Chapel A.M.E. Church, United Church of Christ's Chancel Choir, and the Congregational Church of Park Manor. It was at the Congregational Church of Park Manor that she met the Reverend Dr. William Faulkner who was instrumental in her move from Dillard University to Wildwood, New Jersey, where in 1969 she integrated the Wildwood Public School teaching staff.

At Wildwood, she established herself as a prominent teacher and a nationally known composer, lecturer, and performing musician. She was the director of the Wildwood High School Choir and the King Singers. Betty was also an active member of WIBCA (Wildwood Independent Business Community Association).

Betty also shared her talents with the community. At an early age she was fully involved in her family's Jacksonian Community Center. The Jacksonian Community Center, which was dedicated to the welfare and training of young people, offered music and dance lessons as well as educational and spiritual experiences. As a member of the Jacksonian Trio and the Imperial Opera Company, Betty not only toured the country with her mother Gertrude, and her sister Catherine, but she also performed at various Chicago Public Schools as well.

Many great artists such as opera star Kathleen Battle have performed Betty's spiritual arrangements. Miss Battle performed Ride-Up in The Chariot in a Concert of Spirituals at New York's Carnegie Hall in 1990. The Carnegie Hall concert was recorded live and has been released on CD and VHS cassette by Deutsche Grammophon. Miss Battle also performed this arrangement in 1991 on the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, which was telecast on NBC. Betty's arrangements of Calvary, It's me, O Lord, and (the Art Song) Springtime were recorded in 1994 by Videmus on, Watch and Pray (Spirituals and Art Songs, by African-American Women Composers) released by Koch International Classics. Also the CD, Let It shine (1994) Laura English-Robinson (soprano) and Walter Buff (pianist), contains Betty's spiritual arrangement of Ride Up In the Chariot. Currently there are three CD's containing various instrumental and spiritual selections of Betty's scheduled to be recorded within the next year.

Betty received numerous awards including the Teaching Recognition Award from the former governor of New Jersey Governor Thomas Kean. She is listed in: Who's Who in American Black Women in the Arts and Social Sciences, International Who's Who in Music, International Dictionary of Black Composers, African-American Art Song-Alliance, Feminist Theory and Music 4: Abstracts, Black American Music- Past and Present, Volume II by Hildred Roach, and Choral Music by Afro-American Composers-A selected annotated bibliography compiled by Evelyn Davidson White. She is also a Past President of the National Association of Negro Musicians, Inc.

* Arranged by Betty Jackson King