Abbie Betinis

Who is Abbie Betinis?

Abbie Betinis is an American composer. A 2009 McKnight Fellow, Betinis' compositions have been performed by numerous professional and amateur choruses, including New Amsterdam Singers, Cantus and The Rose Ensemble. Since 2006, she has served as Composer In Residence at The Schubert Club in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Her work has been hailed as "inventive [and] richly melodic" by The New York Times, and The Boston Globe hailed the world premiere of her Expectans Expectavi as the "highlight" of the concert.

Primarily a choral composer, Betinis is known for her use of unconventional vocal techniques such as yodeling, crying, spitting, whistling, glottal grunting, bird-calling and keening.

Originally from Stevens Point, Wisconsin, Betinis earned a B.A. in music with a linguistics concentration from St. Olaf College, and a M.A. in music composition from the University of Minnesota, where her primary teacher was Judith Lang Zaimont. She studied harmony and counterpoint in the tradition of Nadia Boulanger in Paris, with faculty from The Juilliard School and the Paris Conservatory. Betinis is a three-time cancer survivor, an experience she cites as an important influence in her work.