Pianist Rena Murong Wu is currently pursuing her DMA studies at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music under the tutelage of Michael Chertock. She earned her Undergraduate degree in Piano Performance at the Eastman School of Music studying with Alexander Kobrin and her Masters degrees in both Performance and Chamber Music at the University of Michigan, where she studied with Logan Skelton. A native of Shenzhen, China, Rena began her studies in the U.S. at the New England Conservatory Preparatory School in 2014, during which she gave performances in Germany at the Liszt Gartenhaus in Weimar and the Schumannhaus museum in Leipzig. She has made appearances at summer festivals including the Gijon International Piano Festival (Spain), the International Keyboard Institute and Festival, the Hiiumaa Homecoming Festival (virtual) and the Chautauqua Piano Program, where she was a finalist in the 2022 piano competition. A passionate chamber musician and new music enthusiast, Rena was a member of the Contemporary Directions Ensemble at the University of Michigan and had most recently performed in chamber music masterclasses for the Takács Quartet, Trio Seoul, and Jasmine Choi. Rena has also devoted much of her career to Piano Pedagogy, currently serving as a Secondary Piano graduate teaching assistant at CCM teaching group piano and private lessons and has most recently given a masterclass in the CCM Peer Perspectives Masterclasses series. Serving as secretary of the CCM MTNA Collegiate Chapter, Rena has spoken at conferences such as the 2024 Ohio MTA, the 2025 MTNA Collegiate Symposium and MTNA National Conference presenting on pedagogical topics such as Jazz idioms infused compositions accessible to classically trained pianists, as well as the introduction of extended techniques for intermediate piano students.