She studied fugue and counterpoint with Morelenbaum and Virginia Fiuza and composition with Padre Jaime Diniz.
[2] After graduating, she completed a master's degree in piano at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where she studied composition with Peter Fricker and David Gordon.
In 1989 she helped to found Musica Nova, an organization to premiere new music compositions, working with Rodolfo Caesar and Rodrigo Cicchelli.
[4] She retired from teaching in 2002 but operates the Music and Technology Lab at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro[5] and continues work as a composer.
Rezende has composed for orchestra, chamber ensemble and solo instrument and her compositions been performed internationally.