Progress on the Prairie: Abbie Betinis
Alicia Bones
Issue date: 5/29/09 Section: Arts & Entertainment
Despite our love of the classics - i.e., dead white European dudes - taught in these illustrious halls, plenty of noteworthy artists operate outside of the Lawrence bubble. In this column, we'll cover those Midwestern artists - writers, sculptors, photographers, filmmakers, actors, etc. - and discuss how they're changing the modern creative landscape.
If College Avenue did not split the campus, Lawrence could have had a better shot at enrolling Saint Paul-based composer Abbie Betinis in the student body. "I was very seriously considering Lawrence, [but one factor was that] I'm not so good at crossing streets, it turns out," Betinis said.
Perhaps making up for her lack of street-crossing skills, Betinis crosses plenty of boundaries in her compositions. From a Norwegian poetry trio for clarinet, piano and voice to a men's choral piece with third-century Greek texts, Betinis proves that a female composer can cross cultural, linguistic and musical lines and do more than just get away with it.
Like many successful young artists, Stevens Point, Wis.-born Betinis started out as a precocious child with a knack for her art. "[One of my first pieces had] an undulating tritone interval that has a little instruction written above it," Betinis said.
The composer continued, "The note said, 'Do this until Mommy screams.' And, inevitably, she would ... It wasn't until years later that she realized that her yelling was part of the piece!"
Throughout her adult life, Betinis continued to incorporate the unusual into her compositions, but her methods became more meticulous. She studied composition and counterpoint at St. Olaf College, the University of Minnesota, and the European Musical Alliance in Paris. Today, the 29-year-old has had more than 70 of her works premiered by ensembles and soloists throughout the U.S.
An example of both Betinis' meticulousness and her penchant for pushing boundaries is her incorporation of languages in which she is not fluent into her pieces. In writing this way, she wants to expand international consciousnesses, not create cultural inaccuracies, so she does her research.
If College Avenue did not split the campus, Lawrence could have had a better shot at enrolling Saint Paul-based composer Abbie Betinis in the student body. "I was very seriously considering Lawrence, [but one factor was that] I'm not so good at crossing streets, it turns out," Betinis said.
Perhaps making up for her lack of street-crossing skills, Betinis crosses plenty of boundaries in her compositions. From a Norwegian poetry trio for clarinet, piano and voice to a men's choral piece with third-century Greek texts, Betinis proves that a female composer can cross cultural, linguistic and musical lines and do more than just get away with it.
Like many successful young artists, Stevens Point, Wis.-born Betinis started out as a precocious child with a knack for her art. "[One of my first pieces had] an undulating tritone interval that has a little instruction written above it," Betinis said.
The composer continued, "The note said, 'Do this until Mommy screams.' And, inevitably, she would ... It wasn't until years later that she realized that her yelling was part of the piece!"
Throughout her adult life, Betinis continued to incorporate the unusual into her compositions, but her methods became more meticulous. She studied composition and counterpoint at St. Olaf College, the University of Minnesota, and the European Musical Alliance in Paris. Today, the 29-year-old has had more than 70 of her works premiered by ensembles and soloists throughout the U.S.
An example of both Betinis' meticulousness and her penchant for pushing boundaries is her incorporation of languages in which she is not fluent into her pieces. In writing this way, she wants to expand international consciousnesses, not create cultural inaccuracies, so she does her research.
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