Rena Urso enjoys a dynamic and versatile career as a freelance orchestral and chamber musician. She is the Second Flutist of the Oakland Symphony and the Artistic Director of The Complete 21st Century Flutist: The Global Artist.

Previously, Rena held the position of Second Flute and Piccolo with the New York City Opera National Company and San Francisco Opera’s Western Opera Theater. A highly sought-after substitute and extra musician, she has performed with several of the leading orchestras across California, including the San Francisco Opera, Pacific Symphony, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, among others. Other notable engagements include performances with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, American Ballet Theatre, Bolshoi Ballet, Mark Morris Dance Group, Seattle Symphony, Hawaii Symphony, and the Carmel Bach Festival. A versatile musician who has recorded for video games, television, radio, and film, Rena has also performed extensively with the National Tours of Wicked and Phantom of the Opera.

Rena was a member of the faculty at the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music at California State University Long Beach for more than 30 years, as both an adjunct professor of flute and Body Mapping, having created the course Body Mapping for the Performing Artist. She also previously served as Fine Arts faculty at California State University Stanislaus.

For many years, Rena served as a Course Coordinator for CSU Summer Arts, where she led The Complete 21st Century Flutist: The Global Artist both in California and in Italy, alongside her team of distinguished international faculty. In 2025, she launched an exciting new chapter for the course as the Artistic Director, now held annually each summer at the Academia Montis Regalis in Mondovì, Italy.

As a Licensed Body Mapping Educator, Rena teaches workshops and masterclasses around the world. Dedicated to musicians’ wellness education, Rena helps to guide aspiring teachers as a training mentor for the Association for Body Mapping Educators. She authored a well-regarded recurring column in The Flute View from 2018 – 23. Her popular column focused on injury prevention and musicians' wellness. Her book Mindful Flute Etudes: Transform Your Playing with Body Mapping and Melody Mining, co-authored with Amy Likar, was released in 2025.

In addition to her work as a flutist, piccoloist, and educator, Rena is a RYT-200 certified yoga teacher and certified meditation instructor, teaching classes in the Chicago area, virtually via Zoom, and at her annual yoga retreats in Italy.

She is a frequent guest artist at flute clubs, summer festivals, and arts organizations across the U.S. and Europe, including appearances at the International Piccolo Weekend (Bruges, Belgium)and the International Piccolo Festival (Grado, Italy). She is also a teaching artist for TAPS Online, tonebase, and the International Piccolo Flute Academy. A longtime member of the National Flute Association, Rena is a regular performer and presenter at the annual NFA conventions and has also contributed to The Flutist Quarterly. She has served on the NFA’s Performance Health, Nominating, and Review Committees, and is a frequent adjudicator for their national competitions.

Originally from Detroit, now based in Chicago and Torino, Italy, Rena holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Wayne State University and a Master of Music with honors from California State University Long Beach. She is deeply grateful to her mentors—Robert Patrick, Clement Barone Jr., John Barcellona, Anne Zentner, and her father, former Detroit Symphony Orchestra Assistant Concertmaster, Santo Urso.

Rena has played Muramatsu flutes exclusively for her entire career and performs on a 9k Muramatsu flute, Keefe piccolo, and Yamaha alto flute.

Website: renaurso.com