Valedictorian of her high school class, she enrolled in St. Olaf College on a piano scholarship, but during her sophomore year was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma and was forced to return home to begin chemotherapy.

[5] Having quickly emerged as one of the strongest voices in American choral composition today, Betinis chooses meaningful texts to set in a unique, yet accessible style.

[6] Her early residencies with The Rose Ensemble and The Singers—Minnesota Choral Artists (the latter for 10 years), helped to shape her sensibilities as a composer of vocal music and to explore and employ unconventional techniques, such as yodeling, spitting, whistling, glottal stops, and keening.

[9] Betinis is a two-time McKnight Artist Fellow (2009, 2015),[10][11] and has received grants and awards from the American Composers Forum, the Esoterics, Minnesota Music Educators Association, and New York's Sorel Organization, among others.

[12] She and Dominick Argento are the two composers profiled in the award-winning 2009 Twin Cities Public Television documentary "Never Stop Singing," an examination of the choral music tradition in Minnesota.