Abbie Betinis

Introduction
Abbie Betinis is an American composer born on January 21st, 1980 in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. She has composed a number of different works but is most known for her choral music. Betinis emerged as one of the strongest individuals in choral composition. Abbie is a third generation of the Burt family famous for the Christmas Carol composer Alfred Burt. Betinis is the third generation to compose and send original carols to family and friends. She currently lives in Saint Paul, Minnesota and is a Composer-in-Residence at The Schubert Club, and an adjunct professor of composition at Concordia University.

Work Analysis
The piece I will be analyzing is Abbie Betinis' Be Like the Bird. This 5 part canon was composed for the Christmas of 2009 in part of her Burts Family Christmas carol tradition. This carol was dedicated to High Rocks for Girls a comprehensive school that was founded by Susan Burt in West Virginia. This canon is written in Db major and because it is a canon the lyrics are repeated in a round depending on how many voices are singing. The canon has no instrumental background and the second voice starts 3 measures into the first.

Comparisons
Abbie Betinis studied harmony and counterpoint in Paris, France in the tradition of Nadia Boulanger gaining influence from Boulanger's style. She also studied with Mary Childs, Philip Lasser, and Judith Zaimont.

Observations
Being in a choir and directing an acapella group I think that canons are extremely useful for ear training and vocal warmups. This canon is beautifully written and the fact that this is in Db major makes it unique to other canons I have done because it is in a more complex key.