publisher of Composer Abbie Betinis to write new ChoralQuest work in residence with MN, WA, and PA middle-level choirs January 2019 For Immediate Release American Composers Forum | 75 West 5th Street, Suite 522 | Saint Paul, MN 55102 651-251-2840 | Fax: 651-291-7978 | www.composersforum.org For more information, contact: Laura Krider, American Composers Forum, 651-251-2840,
[email protected] American Composers Forum (ACF) has selected Abbie Betinis as the 2019 ChoralQuest® composer. ChoralQuest, now in its ninth year, is a commissioning program designed to enhance mid- level choral repertoire with new works by notable composers. An award-winning composer, Betinis is known for her audacious vocal music often inspired by language, patterns, and play. She will be the first ChoralQuest composer to pilot a new hybrid residency model, working directly with Cottage Grove Middle School in Cottage Grove, MN, and virtually with Lakeside School in Seattle, WA, and Sister Cities Girlchoir in Philadelphia, PA. Betinis will compose one piece informed and inspired all three choirs that will have a rolling world premiere in spring 2019. Betinis’s in-person residency will be hosted by Britta Gilbertson and Reid Larsen, directors of the Cottage Grove Middle School eighth grade choir in Cottage Grove, MN. “We are excited to see what Abbie, together with the students, will come up with on this journey, musically and in other ways. This is potentially a once in a lifetime opportunity for our students.” The virtual residency sites will take place at the Lakeside School under the direction of Shekela Wanyama, director of choirs in Seattle, WA and the Sister Cities Girlchoir with director and founder Alysia Screenshot of residency cohort’s kick-off meeting.