Renthungo Merry was born and raised in the beautiful hilly region of Nagaland, India. From childhood he developed a deep interest in musical instruments. His exposure to the western tonal system came through the sounds of western music heard on the radio and the heritage of singing hymns introduced to the Nagas by the American Baptist missionaries. This gradual shift from traditional chants to the Western tonal system was, in some important ways, transformational as it opened a new way of making music. It was a welcome change...chords, inversions, chromaticism, lush harmony, modulation, triads etc. His first ‘musical instrument’ was a piece of bamboo on top of which were copper wires attached and somehow stretched over a hollowed part of the bamboo. At age 16 his uncle gave him a real guitar, made in India (Reynolds), on which he learnt the basics of chords and strumming.

During his college days in Shillong, Meghalaya, Ren happened to see displayed in the window of a bookstore a book titled Solo Guitar by Frederick Noad. Having saved up enough to purchase the book, he self-taught how to read music and learn simple pieces on an ordinary steel-stringed guitar. On a scholarship he was able to come to the United States to study music, earning an undergraduate in music from Moody Bible Institute, Chicago, IL.

While in the States, Ren began studying the classical guitar in the private studio of Richard Pick in Chicago, IL. Later he studied with Paul Henry at Roosevelt University where he received his Master's degree in guitar performance. Following graduation, he moved back to Nagaland, India, and taught choral music and classical guitar at Patkai Christian College. While at PCC, he established the classical guitar program and also helped form the Patkai Guitar Sinfonia, comprised of fifty guitarists. The Patkai Guitar Ensemble of eight members, which resulted out of this program, came to the US in the Summer of 1999 for a series of concerts. One of the members competed at the GFA International Solo Competition in Columbus, GA, in 2011. Upon returning to the United States in 1997, he taught choral music and classical guitar for seven years at Westminster Christian Academy, a K-12 school in Opelousas, Louisiana. In 2005, Ren moved to Greeley, Colorado to pursue his doctoral degree in Music Education. As a graduate student at the University of Northern Colorado, he studied the classical guitar with Jonathan Leathwood. There he received his doctoral degree in Music Education in the Fall of 2010. His dissertation was on guitar teaching methodology titled: A Paradigm for Effective Pre-College Classical Guitar Methodology: A Case Study of Two Models of Effective Instruction. This dissertation was selected for presentation at the Guitar Foundation of America Convention's Education Lectures in 2007 and 2010. It was also selected for presentation during the 2010 Colorado Music Educators Association Convention in Colorado Springs. In 2010 he received the Lifetime Achievement Award in Classical Guitar education during the Calcutta International Classical Guitar Festival and Competition held in Calcutta, India. He also received the Governor's Award in Music Education in the Spring of 2013 from the Government of Nagaland, India. Ren currently teaches classical guitar and choral music at a 6-12 school in Greeley, Colorado. He also serves in the music ministry at Grace Church in Greeley.

Ren’s desire is to glorify Christ his Savior and to use his music to minister to others. He sees music as a gift from God to be used for His glory and purpose. Ren is married to Tammie and has three children: Nathan who is serving as a US Marine, and daughters Areni and Therali.