Congratulations, Vicki! And thank you for 45 EXTRAVAGANT years.
Vicki Peterson Jenks, WYSO Percussion Ensemble Director since 1981, is taking a bow. One more season to go.
WYSO Percussion Ensemble Director, 1981–2026
In 1981, a young percussion teacher walked into a WYSO rehearsal room for the first time. Every WYSO percussionist since then has come through Vicki’s room. She built the Percussion Ensemble into a program that reaches well beyond the concert hall, and she did it with a mallet in one hand and a young person’s confidence in the other. This month Vicki announced that the 2026–27 season will be her last as director. She’ll lead the ensemble through the whole year, including one more Percussion Extravaganza in March, before handing over the sticks. So there’s still time to see her at work, and this page is where to start.
“Not Just Another Job”
After many months of prayer, discernment, joyful reminiscence, and, yes, some tears, I have decided to retire. My decision comes from a place of DEEP GRATITUDE to every single person, no matter their “roll” within our WYSO family.
Some people refer to their work as a “job.” But WYSO has NEVER been “just a job” to me. WYSO is core to who I am, the perfect intersection of my personal and professional passions. Simply put, WYSO is my heartbeat.
WYSO’s mission has always been bigger than any “one person”, and this coming school year gives the board, staff, families, and “my percussion kids” TIME to transition with care, strength, and clarity. As members of the WYSO family, we will transition well — proving that leadership can be passed with grace. I have complete CONFIDENCE for this next “movement” in our percussion “composition.”
One essential “movement” within our percussion “composition”, is the endowment of percussion student scholarships — allowing young percussionists to THRIVE at WYSO for generations to come. Thank you for joining the composition team!
Blessings and Gratitude,
Vicki
About Vicki
Vicki Peterson Jenks has served as the WYSO Percussion Ensemble Director since 1981. She received her musical training at Minot State University, UW-Stevens Point, and Baylor University, and in 1976 founded the percussion program at UT-El Paso. For 25 years, she nurtured Jenks Music Studio, the largest percussion studio in Wisconsin.
In 2008, Vicki received the Lifetime Achievement in Education Award and was inducted into the Percussive Arts Society’s Hall of Fame. In 2011, she received the Clara Barton Honor Award, the most esteemed award presented to any Red Cross volunteer or staff member. In 2022, WYSO honored her with the Rabin Youth Arts Award for Artistic Achievement by an Individual.
Under Vicki’s direction, the annual WYSO Percussion EXTRAVAGANZA has partnered with organizations across our community — including Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin, the Southwest Chapter of the American Red Cross, Ronald McDonald House Charities, Boys and Girls Clubs of Dane County, and WayForward Resources. But ask her about any of it and she’ll change the subject to her percussion students.
The Next 45 Years
Vicki has asked that her retirement be marked by what her students get, not by what she gets. Gifts made in her honor help percussion students join and stay in the program regardless of their family’s ability to pay, which is exactly the kind of legacy she’d choose: not a plaque, but a student in the room.
Questions about this campaign? Contact Eric Prudent at eric@wysomusic.org.