Rena Urso is the Second Flutist of the Oakland Symphony and the Oregon Coast Music Festival Orchestra, and serves on the faculty at California State University Long Beach. Previously, Rena held the position of Second Flute and Piccolo of the New York City Opera National Company and San Francisco Opera’s Western Opera Theater.

As a LBME, Rena presents workshops and masterclasses globally, as well as the course she created at CSULB, Body Mapping for the Performing Artist. Dedicated to fostering the next generation of LBME's, Rena serves as a training mentor and board member for the ABME. Her popular recurring column in The Flute View (2018 - 23) covered topics related to injury prevention and musicians’ wellness. Her book, Mindful Flute Etudes: Transform Your Playing with Body Mapping and Melody Mining, a collaboration with Amy Likar, was released in 2025 (Mountain Peak Music, publisher). As a RYT-200 certified yoga instructor and certified meditation instructor, Rena teaches in the Chicago area, virtually over Zoom, and leads yoga retreats in Italy. She is the Artistic Director and founder of The Complete 21st Century Flutist: The Global Artist, a summer flute course which takes place annually in Mondovì, Italy.

A native of Detroit, Michigan, Rena received her Bachelor of Music from Wayne State University, and her Master of Music with honors from California State University Long Beach. She is extraordinarily grateful for her mentors; Robert Patrick, Clement Barone, John Barcellona, Anne Zentner, and her father, former Assistant Concertmaster for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Santo Urso.

To learn more, please visit www.renaurso.com