Composer In Residence

Abbie Betinis

The Rose Ensemble welcomes 2006-07 Composer in Residence, Abbie Betinis!

Abbie Betinis (b. 1980) has written music in a variety of genres, but her greatest passion is for the human voice. Included in her catalogue of nearly 40 works for voice are commissioned pieces for Cantus, The Dale Warland Singers, The Rose Ensemble, The Schubert Club, and The Young New Yorkers' Chorus, among others. After receiving her BA in music from St. Olaf College, where she studied primarily with Peter Hamlin and Mary Ellen Childs, she was accepted on scholarship to the European American Musical Alliance composition program, and spent two summers in Paris as a student of Philip Lasser (The Juilliard School) studying counterpoint and harmony in the tradition of Nadia Boulanger.

Always an enthusiast of language, Betinis has set texts in English, German, ancient Greek, Irish, Latin, and gibberish, and is currently working on a song cycle featuring the Norwegian poetry of Rolf Jacobsen. Her recent projects investigate ancient Greek love charms and binding spells, African melorhythm technique, the Norwegian Hardanger fiddle tradition, pre-Christian Gaelic keening, and early American shape-note singing.

Betinis is currently completing her MA in music composition from the University of Minnesota. Recent awards include the Esoterics Polyphonos Composition Prize in the Young Composers division (2006), the Craig and Janet Swan Composer Prize (2005), and a Subito grant from the American Composers Forum (2005).

Abbie lives in St. Paul, Minnesota, where she is Composer-in-Residence for The Schubert Club, The Rose Ensemble, and The Singers-Minnesota Choral Artists.

More information can be found on her website: www.abbiebetinis.com