FREE Courtroom Concert featuring Mill City String Quartet

About the Artist:

Founded in the fall of 2007, the Mill City String Quartet seeks to create exciting and diverse concerts for listeners both familiar and new to chamber music. In addition to our season of public concerts, we also frequently collaborate with the singers of Kantorei, work with students across Central and Southern Minnesota, and have premiered several new or lesser-known chamber music works. 

In late 2011, MCSQ released a recording of Christmas music, entitled “Christmas in Mill City.” It continues to be heard on Minnesota Public Radio throughout the holiday season, so be sure to tune in to Classical MPR 99.5! 

In recent seasons, through a generous grant from the Mankato Symphony and the Prairie Lakes Regional Arts Council, we toured extensively through rural communities throughout southern Minnesota. Over the course of our 13 performances, we were humbled by the warm and eager audiences and enjoyed bringing them classical music up close in their own communities. These concerts were also made possible the Minnesota Legacy Amendment’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. 

During the 2014-15 season, we were thrilled to be chosen as an Artist-in-Residence through Minnesota Public Radio’s Class Notes program. In addition to creating a curriculum for the school music teachers, we had a fantastic and successful time performing and teaching our world music program at 7 elementary schools in early October. We were also thrilled to make two appearances on The Schubert Club’s Courtroom Concert series, first with mezzo-soprano Clara Osowski, and later featuring String Quartet No. 4 by Gene Gutche. 

During the 2015-16 season, we were on the road performing in Rochester and Sioux City, as well as a second trip to Naples, Florida. We also continuted our dedication to community outreach by performing at several area correctional facilities. 

Last season, our first with cellist Ruth Marshall, brought another year of Minnesota Public Radio Class Notes performances in Austin and Owatonna, featuring our Music By Minors program. This program focused on young composers and the elementary school students even got to compose their own piece for string quartet! We also played five concerts at for the inmates at MCF-Shakopee, graciously sponsored through a Metropolitan Regional Arts Council Arts Learning grant. Our April 2017 concert was a celebration of the 10th year of Mill City String Quartet through a commission for string quartet and guitar by Minnesota composer Jocelyn Hagen! 

About the Host:

Composer Abbie Betinis writes music called “inventive, richly melodic” (The New York Times), “superb, whirling, soaring” (Tacoma News Tribune), and “the highlight” of the program (Boston Globe).  With over 50 commissioned works for ensembles such as Cantus, the New England Philharmonic, and The Rose Ensemble, Abbie is also a two-time McKnight Artist Fellow, and has won grants from the American Composers Forum, ASCAP, and Jerome Foundation, and at age 31, was listed in NPR Music’s Top 100 Composers Under 40.  Abbie has been a Composer-in-Residence with New York State School Music Association, The Rose Ensemble, The Singers-Minnesota Choral Artists, and Schubert Club. In 2019, she will be the American Composers Forum’s ChoralQuest composer, visiting schools around the U.S. to write new choral music with middle school singers. 

Originally from Wisconsin, Abbie is a graduate of St. Olaf College (B.A.), the University of Minnesota (M.A.), and holds a diplôme from the European American Musical Alliance Institute in Paris, France. She lives in Minnesota, where she is Adjunct Professor of Composition at Concordia University-St Paul and executive director of Justice Choir.

View the Frequently Asked Questions about the Courtroom Concerts.

Seating is limited and first come first served. Doors open at 11:30. Please call if you are attending as a group of 10 or more (651.292.3267).

Schedule & Programs Subject to Change