Reena Esmail holds a BM Composition from Juilliard, where her principal teachers were Samuel Adler and Christopher Rouse. She was a 2002 and 2007 Recipient of the ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Awards and the inaugural recipient of the Milton and Sylvia Babbit Scholarship for Women Composers. Her works have been heard in performances and festivals in the United States, Canada and Europe. Her song cycle, "Unfortunate Coincidence" was recorded in 2005. She currently studies with Susan Botti, and will begin her masters degree at Yale School of Music in Fall 2009.
As a pianist, Reena studied with Robert Turner in Los Angeles, CA. She has performed at the Hollywood Bowl Museum, Zipper Hall at the Colburn School and the Luckman Fine Arts Complex. She was a winner in the MTAC-WLA Los Angeles Philharmonic Chamber Music Competition, and has performed with members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Reena taught theory and ear training at the Manhattan School of Music Precollege from 2006-2009, and is currently a member of the composition faculty at MSM.