Join the Dr. Reatha Clark King Club

VocalEssence and Dr. Reatha Clark King have a long history working to uplift our community through song. This spring, we are delighted to honor her incredible legacy on the 30th Anniversary of the WITNESS program, a program that Reatha helped bring to life. Reatha will be celebrated at the VocalEssence Gala at the Hilton in downtown Minneapolis on Sunday, May 17, 2020. 

JOIN THE CELEBRATION

Join a committed group of donors whose gifts will be used to inspire others during the fund-a-need portion of the evening to support our learning and engagement programs. Names will be listed on the screen during the gala. Donations of any amount are appreciated!

A LONG AND INSPIRED HISTORY TOGETHER

Even after three decades, watching young people respond to VocalEssence WITNESS never gets old for Reatha Clark King. 30 years ago, Philip Brunelle had a vision for a new kind of program tied to Black History Month, one that would focus on African American artistry and deeply engage a broad audience with the material. To bring it to life, he contacted Reatha Clark King, then the head of the General Mills Foundation, and discovered in her a dedicated and passionate collaborator whose tireless energy matched his own. 

“At the time, Black History celebrations in schools and communities might be just a week or month long, but Philip wanted to extend that,” remembers King. The African American scientist, educator, and philanthropist had settled in Minnesota to serve as president of Metropolitan State University in St. Paul and then moved into a high-profile role at General Mills’s charitable giving arm. “Philip talked clearly about how this program could benefit schools, their students, and communities.” She greenlit the project, which is now educating its second generation of students. As she helped WITNESS grow, she became more involved in VocalEssence and more invested in its mission. “I love supporting educators so they can be successful. Even after I retired in 2003, I continued my involvement with VocalEssence as a community volunteer, member of the VocalEssence Board, and a private donor.” 

King has lived a life of remarkable scope and adventure. In 2019, she was back in the spotlight as media turned to her for help covering the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission—as a young scientist, she worked as a research chemist on the project. Yet she still gets a thrill from looking back on decades of WITNESS concerts. “The actor James Earl Jones was a visiting WITNESS artist, and when he took the stage to narrate several presentations, he filled it up,” she said. “He captivated the audience—he had such a huge presence.”

In some cases, her enthusiasm for the audience itself is a cherished memory. “The WITNESS Young People’s Concert is the perfect complement to what the teachers do in the classroom, and when thousands of students come downtown on yellow buses to fill up Orchestra Hall on a Monday morning? That energy is something to see!” said King. “The young people love being in that beautiful hall, and when the WITNESS performers come on, they yell, they jump, they clap. The teachers aren’t telling them ‘Be quiet, sit down,’ because they know the kids can’t! I sit in the balcony and watch and feel so proud. Minneapolis is at its best on those Mondays, giving this special treat to our rainbow of young people.” 

Inspiration can be passed from one hand to the next, and sometimes it comes back after traveling in a circle. King’s work with WITNESS has led to classrooms filled with inspired young people, and to inspire others who lead programs that have a powerful effect on the lives of our young people, VocalEssence established the Reatha Clark King Award for Excellence and Youth Motivation through the Cultural Arts. Since 2007, the Reatha Clark King Award has helped raise the profile and extend the reach of others who dedicate their efforts to setting off that all-important spark in young people. King doesn’t sit on the VocalEssence board anymore, and she nudges Philip Brunelle about turning over the duties of presenting the Reatha Clark King Award to “a young person—or maybe two,” but she still sits on the WITNESS advisory committee. “And I still go to the concert, too. I’ve missed it just once in 30 years.”  

“VocalEssence is such a creative organization, and the leaders and staff keep adding on ways to make the program more and more excellent! They have inexhaustible creativity and energy,” King said.  “And that’s good, because the way I see it, the full potential of WITNESS is unreachable. There is always more joy, beauty, and creativity to be discovered, and Minnesota is the right place to make this happen.”