BIOGRAPHY

ABBIE BETINIS (b. 1980) is a composer of concert music whose work has been reviewed as "superb... whirling, soaring" (Bar Xizam), "contemporary and compelling" (Remember O Thou Man), "audacious. . .edgy. . .thrilling" (Cedit Hyems), and "alternating bursts of melodic invention with dreamlike impressionist harmony" (The Clan of the Lichens).

Always an enthusiast of language, Betinis continues to add to her catalogue of nearly 40 works for voice, with commissions ranging from an ad hoc collection of ten-year-olds to the fully professional Dale Warland Singers. She has set texts in English, German, ancient Greek, Latin, Persian, Spanish, and complete gibberish, and is currently working on a song cycle featuring the Norwegian poetry of Rolf Jacobsen. Her text setting has been called imaginative and sensitive, even while pushing performers to explore extended vocal techniques such as yodeling, crying, spitting, whistling, glottal sighing, or bird-calling. Her recent projects investigate topics as varied as ancient Greek love charms and binding spells, African melorhythm, the Norwegian Hardanger fiddle tradition, early American shape-note singing, and Sufi mysticism. A recent piece for The Rose Ensemble explores the pre-Christian Gaelic tradition of keening in a staged piece for solo soprano, mixed chorus, Gaelic harp, bodhran, and vielle.

Betinis's music for solo voice, namely her song cycle The Clan of the Lichens: Five Poems of Opal Whiteley (2004), has enjoyed multiple performances in the Midwest, as well as in Paris, France. Her choral music, championed by conductors such as Matthew Culloton, Emily Ellsworth and Dale Warland, has been praised for its melodic line and unfolding dramatic impulse, yet is also identified by its characteristic rhythmic vigor. Her piece Yhinx: An Ancient Greek Love Charm (2003) written for the men's ensemble Cantus, was featured on their nationwide 2004-2005 tours. Her Christmas carols, composed in the tradition of her great uncle Alfred Burt, reach a national listening audience through premieres broadcast annually on Minnesota Public Radio and American Public Media.

Originally from Stevens Point, Wisconsin, Betinis received a Bachelor of Arts degree in music theory and composition from St. Olaf College (Northfield, MN), where her primary teachers were Peter Hamlin and Mary Ellen Childs. She then spent two summers on scholarship from the European American Musical Alliance (EAMA) at La Schola Cantorum and l'Ecole Normale de Musique in Paris, France, where she studied harmony and counterpoint in the tradition of Nadia Boulanger with faculty from Juilliard and the Paris Conservatory. She earned her Master of Arts degree in music composition from the University of Minnesota in March 2007. In the Twin Cities, her primary mentors have been Judith Zaimont, Libby Larsen, and Rosalind Laskin.

Betinis has received grants and awards from the American Composers Forum, American Society of Composers and Publishers (ASCAP), Cambridge Madrigal Singers, the Esoterics, Minnesota Music Educators Association, and first place in the University of Minnesota's Craig and Janet Swan Composer Competition. At age 27, she has received over thirty commissions for new work, by organizations such as the American Suzuki Foundation, Anoka High School Band, Cantus, the Dale Warland Singers, The Rose Ensemble, The Schubert Club, The Singers-Minnesota Choral Artists, University of Minnesota Men's Choir, and the Young New Yorkers Chorus. Her published music is available from Augsburg Fortress, Graphite Publishing, Kjos, Santa Barbara Music Publishing, and -- new in August 2007 -- in G. Schirmer's Dale Warland Choral Series.

Since 2005, she has served as composer-in-residence with The Schubert Club in Saint Paul.

More information is available on her website at www.abbiebetinis.com.

Shorter Bio:

Reviewed as "most audacious... edgy and thrilling," the music of Abbie Betinis is being performed increasingly in the United States and abroad. At age 28, Betinis has been commissioned by nearly 40 music organizations including the American Suzuki Foundation, Cantus, Cornell University Chorus, Dale Warland Singers, and the Young New Yorkers’ Chorus. Betinis holds a BA from St. Olaf College, and MA in music composition from the University of Minnesota. She has also attended the European American Musical Alliance summer sessions in Paris, France, where she studied harmony and counterpoint in the tradition of Nadia Boulanger. Since 2005, Betinis has been a Composer-in-Residence for The Schubert Club in St. Paul, Minnesota. She has also held residencies with The Singers—Minnesota Choral Artists, The Rose Ensemble, and, in 2008, the Saint Paul Conservatory of Music.

More information is available on her website at www.abbiebetinis.com.