"A pioneering artist who is exceptionally creative and bold with her musical endeavors."
-Robert Garland
"Peaceful ferocity behind the piano."
-Michael Perrie Jr.
"Her music is always beautifully played and attuned for dance."
-Deborah Wingert
"A pioneering artist who is exceptionally creative and bold with her musical endeavors."
-Robert Garland
"Peaceful ferocity behind the piano."
-Michael Perrie Jr.
"Her music is always beautifully played and attuned for dance."
-Deborah Wingert
Renee is an acclaimed dance musician based in New York City. She holds a deep appreciation for dance accompaniment, recognizing it as a dual platform that enables her to contribute to the dance world while fostering her artistic growth. With formal training in both music and dance, she has established herself as an educator in both disciplines.
Currently, Renee serves as a staff company pianist at New York Theatre Ballet and plays for company classes at the Mark Morris Dance Group and American Ballet Theatre. She also teaches dance at the Mark Morris Dance Center.
Her portfolio includes work with prestigious institutions such as ABT's Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School, Complexions Company, New York University (NYU), Manhattan Youth Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, Ballet Academy East, New Jersey Ballet, Houston Ballet, Cleveland Ballet, Kaatsbaan Cultural Center, and A.I.M Dance Company.
Renee's professional journey as a dance pianist began in Singapore at age 17, when she started playing for the Singapore Dance Theatre Company and Singapore School of the Arts (SOTA). She was also appointed to play for London's Royal Academy Dance examinations held in Singapore. After receiving a scholarship to study at Berklee College of Music in Boston, she moved to New York City when an opportunity arose to play for dance.
Throughout her artistic journey, Renee has remained dedicated to developing each art form—dance, music, and visual arts—while finding ways to serve others through them. From a young age, she has nurtured her passion for diverse artistic expressions including music, architecture design, visual arts, traditional Chinese painting and calligraphy, classical ballet, and street jazz dance, all of which have collectively shaped her development as a multifaceted artist.
Renee will appear as a dance pianist in the upcoming Amazon Prime film 'Etoile', scheduled for release in 2025.
As a pianist, she has performed major works including José Limón's 'Mazurkas' with the New York Theatre Ballet Company in August 2024 at Eagles Mere, PA, and George Balanchine's 'Four Temperaments' presented by Manhattan Youth Ballet under Deborah Wingert's direction. Renee has also collaborated with Wingert to create a new work set to Tchaikovsky's 'August and September' for Manhattan Youth Ballet.
Beyond the dance world, Renee performed Erik Satie's "Vexations" at the Guggenheim Museum and led a live ballet demonstration at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in collaboration with the Juilliard Dance Department, exploring ballet history in conjunction with the Edgar Degas Exhibition.
She has also music-directed and conducted various theatre productions in the United States and Singapore, including full Broadway-licensed shows at the Buck's Rock Performing Arts Camp. Renee regularly participates in music directing, composing, orchestrating, and conducting. Her compositions, orchestrations, and recordings for original plays include Patty Hamilton's "Things That Don't Translate" and Yaakov Bressler's "The Golden Smile," which received recognition at the New York Fringe Theatre Festival 2016.
Each week, Renee crafts time to teaching piano students, some of whom have gone on to attend music high schools and pursue professional music careers. She emphasizes the enjoyment of music itself and the importance of consistent practice. Her approach focuses on developing students as well-rounded individuals, encouraging them to consider how they might contribute to the arts in the future.
In 2024, she led a Ballet Pianist Workshop with the New York Theatre Ballet to help professional musicians deepen their understanding of playing for dance. She applies the same teaching philosophy when teaching ballet at the Mark Morris Dance Center.
Renee believes in continual learning and growth through education and constantly seeks ways to develop as an artist. She is particularly interested in using art as a means of community service.