ABBIE BETINIS is a composer of concert music. Her music has been reviewed as "whirling, soaring" (Bar Xizam), "contemporary and compelling" (Remember O Thou Man), and "audacious... edgy... and thrilling" (Cedit Hyems).
At age 28, Abbie has received over forty commissions for new work, by organizations such as the American Suzuki Foundation, Cantus , the Dale Warland Singers, The Rose Ensemble , The Schubert Club , and the Young New Yorkers Chorus. In November 2007, the Minneapolis Star Tribune named her one of Minnesota's nine " Young Artists On the Verge ."
Abbie 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, in 2005, won the University of Minnesota's national Craig and Janet Swan Composer Competition. Her published music is available from Augsburg Fortress, Graphite Publishing, Kjos, Santa Barbara Music Publishing, and now as part of G. Schirmer's Dale Warland Series.
Always an enthusiast of language and culture, Abbie's recent compositions investigate topics as varied as ancient Greek binding spells, African melorhythm, 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. (To listen to it, click "An Caoineadh" on this page).
Originally from Stevens Point, Wisconsin, Abbie holds a BA from St. Olaf College , where she studied primarily with Peter Hamlin and Mary Ellen Childs. Upon receiving scholarships from the European American Musical Alliance , she spent two summers 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 recently earned her MA from the University of Minnesota, under the mentorship of Judith Zaimont.
Currently in her third year as a composer-in-residence with The Schubert Club , Abbie lives in Saint Paul, Minnesota (with a tortoise named Milton).
