Vicki Peterson Jenks, a native North Dakotan, received her musical training at Minot State University, UW Stevens Point, and Baylor University. She holds a Masters in Performance and Literature from Baylor. In 1976, she founded the percussion program at UT El Paso. Upon her move to Madison in 1980, she created Ward-Brodt Music Company’s Education Department, marveling at its exponential growth from 20 to 300 students in just three years! From 1985-2005, Vicki developed Jenks Music Studio, Wisconsin’s largest private percussion studio. JMS alumni hold top positions in orchestras and universities around the world.
Vicki’s great passion is serving as the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras’ Director of Percussion since 1981. She was deeply honored to receive WYSO’s Rabin Youth Arts Award and Wisconsin’s Service to Music Award. In 2008, she was inducted into the PAS Hall of Fame and received the Lifetime Achievement in Education award.
As a dedicated American Red Cross Emeritus Board Member and Disaster Action Team volunteer, she and husband, John, created the unique-in-the USA Heroes MusicalesTM in 2007. Collaborating with compassionate donors, service clubs, churches, and schools, thousands of dollars were raised for local disaster relief and Service to the Armed Forces over a 15-year span. In recognition, the American Red Cross presented Vicki their highest award—the Clara Barton Honor Award. Vicki is now a Spiritual Care Disaster Team Specialist for the American Red Cross.
Vicki has evolved in ways she never dreamed. While visiting South Africa in 2018 on an ELCA Synod Companionship trip, she was spiritually transformed. She now holds a Master of Arts in Diaconal Ministry (MADM) from Wartburg Theological Seminary and specializes in connecting the “bookends of life”—youth and elders. Currently, Vicki serves as a chaplain at Bethany Home in Waupaca, Wisconsin, specializing in memory care and hospice. In every space, Vicki teaches invaluable LIFE SKILLS while helping build communities of harmony, respect, and LOVE for ALL PEOPLE.