Renate Tsuyako Rohlfing is an internationally acclaimed pianist and music psychologist.

Winner of the Sonderpreis Klavier (Special Pianists’ Prize) at the Internationaler Wettbewerb für Liedkunst Stuttgart and Second Prize winner of the Wigmore Hall Song Competition, she performs regularly at major venues including Carnegie Hall, the Royal Albert Hall, the Lucerne Festival, and Lincoln Center. The New York Classical Review has praised her for “masterfully blending colors and crafting lyrical, breathing phrases.” Her ongoing collaboration with baritone Äneas Humm has included recitals at Musikfest Bremen, Schloss Bellevue, and Beethoven Haus Bonn, among many others, as well as two albums released on the Rondeau label, Sehnsucht and Embrace. She has served on the music staff for Spoleto Festival USA, the Los Angeles Opera, Opera Philadelphia, the Ravinia Festival, Cincinnati May Festival, and Wolf Trap Opera’s Salon Series, and she has taught and coached pianists at Bard College and as a coach for Juilliard’s Liederabend Series.

Beyond the stage, Ms. Rohlfing has gained widespread recognition as a researcher and practitioner in the burgeoning field of music and health. Her clinical practice and research focuses on the impact of music on grief, anxiety, and neurodiverse populations, particularly children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. As a clinical music therapist, Ms. Rohlfing serves clients at the Nordoff-Robbins Center for Music Therapy in New York City. She has also launched several community-based projects focused on

music and health, including Tell Your Story, now in its fifth year at the Spoleto Festival USA, where musicians and community members pair up to craft “sonic memoirs” that seek to preserve the oral history and creative practices of their communities.

Additionally, as co-founder of Sounds That Carry, she consults for arts and non-profit organizations, developing assessment tools and data-driven programming to support community health. Her work has been supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, the Wallace Foundation, and the Berklee School of Music. She has led workshops and discussions about her work at the United Nations Healing Arts Week, Berklee Abu Dhabi, Chamber Music America, and the Institute for Technology and Aging at McLean Hospital in Boston.

A native of Honolulu, Hawai‘i, Ms. Rohlfing is a graduate of The Juilliard School and New York University. She currently serves as Associate Professor at Berklee College of Music, where she teaches courses at the intersection of music, psychology, and public health, and serves as co-director of the Community Health Musician Certificate at Berklee’s Music and Health Institute.. A recipient of the Berklee Dean’s Award for Global Presence and Engagement, she recently joined the faculty at the Juilliard School, where she teaches art song interpretation to masters and doctoral students.