Reviewed as "most audacious... edgy and thrilling," the music of composer Abbie Betinis (b. 1980) is being performed increasingly in the United States and abroad. Praised for its melodic impulse and unfolding dramatic design, her work is also characterized by rhythmic vigor and playfulness.
Abbie has been commissioned by more than 40 music organizations including the American Suzuki Foundation, Cantus, Cornell University Chorus, and the Dale Warland Singers. She holds a BA from St. Olaf College, MA in music composition from the University of Minnesota, and has twice traveled on scholarship to Paris, France through the European American Musical Alliance to study harmony and counterpoint in the tradition of Nadia Boulanger.
She has received grants and awards from the American Composers Forum, ASCAP, Cambridge Chamber Singers, The Esoterics, Minnesota Music Educators Association, the University of Minnesota, and the Young New Yorkers Chorus.
Her work is represented on six commercially-available recordings, and is published by Augsburg Fortress, Graphite Publishing, Kjos, Santa Barbara Music Publishing, and in G. Schirmer's Dale Warland Series. In 2006, Abbie launched a self-publishing company, and now markets and distributes her own scores internationally through her website.
Since 2001, Minnesota Public Radio has partnered with American Public Media to record and premiere Abbie's annual, original Christmas carol (written in the tradition of her great uncle, composer Alfred Burt) to an estimated listening audience of 800,000. National Public Radio and Public Radio International have aired her performances by the Dale Warland Singers, Philadelphia Singers and The Rose Ensemble in national broadcasts.
Since 2005, Abbie 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 and The Rose Ensemble.
For more information, please visit www.abbiebetinis.com.