Dr. Bruning, an Iowa native, has performed extensively as a soloist and chamber musician throughout the United States and Holland. She holds degrees in Piano Pedagogy and Performance from Drake University and University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music where her major teachers included Dr. Chiu-Ling Lin, Eugene Pridonoff, and Frank Weinstock. In demand as an instructor and adjudicator, she often conducts master classes and has adjudicated numerous competitions including the 2008 Elizabeth R. Davis Piano Competition and the 2007 International Young Artist's Piano Competition in Washington, DC.

An expert in Native-American-influenced music from the early Twentieth Century, she frequently performs and lectures on the subject at venues such as The State Department in Washington, DC, and the 2007 College Music Society National Conference in Salt Lake City, UT. In November 2009 Ludwig Masters published the first in a series of piano books compiled and edited by Dr. Bruning entitled The Indian Character Piece: Native-American Influenced Piano Works from the Early Twentieth Century, Volume I. Volume II was published in 2012. In 2015 she released her first solo piano album entitled The Indian Character Piece: Native-American Influenced Works from the Early 20th Century with Albany Records which received a Gold Medal from the Global Music Awards.

Dr. Bruning serves as a reviewer for the FJH Music Company, Inc. and the scholarly journal Clavier Companion where she reviews new teaching and performance scores. She also assists as a consulting editor for the Sonatina series by Helen Marlais. In 2018 she began work as the primary editor for FJH's Play Your Scales Everyday series volumes 4-7. Additionally, Dr. Bruning maintains an interest in helping students address issues of performance anxiety. She has conducted many workshops on the topic at summer music festivals and conferences such as the International Music Festival, The Knabe Piano Institute, and Sigma Alpha Iota's Province Day.

In demand as a collaborative artist, Dr. Bruning has performed with well-known brass players such as Ron Barron (retired principal trombone for the Boston Symphony), Joseph Alessi (principal trombone for the New York Philharmonic) and Kenneth Thompkins (principal trombone for the Detroit Symphony). In 2017 she released a CD of trombone music written by female composers with Dr. Natalie Mannix of University of North Texas entitled Breaking Ground: A Celebration of Women Composers which received a Silver Medal from the Global Music Awards.

Currently, Dr. Bruning is Associate Professor of Music and Coordinator of Keyboard Studies at Morgan State University in Baltimore, MD. She has also been on the faculty of Shepherd University, Anne Arundel Community College, and Trinity University. Dr. Bruning is an active member of the Music Teachers' National Association (MTNA), the Music Teachers' Association of Greater Baltimore (MTAGB), and the College Music Society (CMS).