Life & Work with Lana Drincic

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lana Drincic.

Hi Lana, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I grew up in Kingsburg, a small town in California’s Central Valley. I started playing piano when I was three years old and started taking lessons when I was five. I always loved the piano and continued studying classical music all the way through elementary school and junior high.

In fifth grade, I picked up the clarinet so I could play in the school band, and I fell in love with that instrument, too. I played it in local and state honor bands in junior high, and in high school I played it in the school marching band and in local orchestras, including the Fresno Philharmonic Youth Orchestra. In my freshman year at Kingsburg High School, I picked up a third instrument, the oboe, which I played in the school wind ensemble.

I love woodwinds and continue to play them to this day. I teach clarinet lessons and direct woodwinds for elementary school band programs. My true passion, though, is the piano.

In sixth grade, I auditioned for a local honor jazz band on piano. I was accepted, and it was my first time playing piano in a group setting. I loved it. I continued playing in the school jazz band throughout junior high and high school. When I was fourteen, I began studying with my first jazz piano teacher, Fresno pianist Craig VonBerg. Two years later, I began working as a gigging pianist around the Central Valley.

As I was graduating high school, I decided I wanted to continue studying jazz piano in college. I decided to pursue a major in jazz studies at California State University, Northridge in 2020, moving to Los Angeles in 2021. I studied with pianists Matt Harris and Gary Fukushima. I also began working as a pianist in the Los Angeles area.

In 2022 I was a semifinalist in the jazz division of the Rubato International Piano Competition in Oxford, Alabama. In 2023, I was selected to be a finalist in the Jazz Education Network Sisters in Jazz Collegiate Combo after being rejected the year before. Also in 2023, I was selected to take part in the Women in Jazz Organization Mentorship program, where I was fortunate enough to be mentored by New York pianist Caili O’Doherty.

In April 2023, I was the featured pianist in a concert with the CSUN Symphony in collaboration with alumnus Serj Tankian. The performance was recorded and released as a live album under Tankian’s name in November of the same year.

In 2022, I began performing my original compositions as a bandleader. In the summer of 2023, I recorded several of my compositions with my own quintet, and I am excited to say I plan on releasing these recordings in 2024.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
One of the most challenging things I’ve experienced as a musician is existing as a woman in this male-dominated sphere.

Growing up, I didn’t have a lot of female role models in my community. I was lucky enough to have a supportive community of music educators in elementary and high school, but out of all the teachers I had, very few were women. I frequently felt like I stood out from my peers, the majority of whom became increasingly male as I progressed. It was hard to find people I could relate to in that way.

When I went to college for jazz, the entire program I was in never had more than five woman instrumentalists in it at a time. I was fortunate, however, that the head of this department was one of the strongest role models I could have had–LA drummer, composer, and educator Tina Raymond. Having her as someone to look up to change everything for me. Here was someone who was an incredible musician and leader, someone who didn’t let whatever challenges must have come from being one of a small number of women in the scene bring her down.

While I still feel alienation, the sense that I don’t belong, having someone like Tina has inspired me to blaze on forth anyway. She didn’t let it stop her, and I can’t let it stop me. I also hope that, like her, someday I can be an example to other young women musicians who feel scared to be themselves in the music world.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a pianist and composer. Jazz is the music I’ve studied the most in my musical journey, and I would say that my playing and writing style are heavily influenced by it.

I started playing shows as a bandleader in the summer of 2022. I’ve experimented with leading jazz trios, quartets, and quintets, developing my voice as a pianist. I’ve also been developing my voice as a writer during this time, performing my original compositions with these various groups.

My goal in 2022 was to find a band that I could collaborate with to create a group sound. Eventually, I settled on a jazz quintet instrumentation with piano, bass, drums, trumpet, and tenor saxophone. The band consists entirely of my favorite people to play with and the closest friends I made in the jazz department at CSUN, where I go to school.

In the summer of 2022, I was offered the opportunity to record my original compositions by my now friends and producers, Sebastian Jones and Jake Augustine, at their recording studio in Santa Monica called Wasatch Studios. I spent the ensuing year workshopping my originals and playing lots of shows with my band, from gigs at coffee shops and clubs to playing at house shows and festivals.

A year later, in the summer of 2023, I spent two days in their studio with my band, recording ten of my original compositions. I am very excited to release this music in 2024.

As I said, my music is heavily influenced by jazz, but I am also very inspired by classical music, rock, indie music, and singer-songwriters. I would say my music is a blend of all these influences. Getting to play my originals with a very talented group of my friends is such a privilege, and I believe that in these recordings, you can hear the love and friendship that’s between us in our playing.

The musicians in my band are AJ Reyes on tenor saxophone, clarinet, and flute, Ethan Lavenstein on trumpet, Sophia Augustine on bass, and Jonah Shin on drums. We also recorded some songs with a special guest, talented saxophonist and flautist Kaela Seltzer, who is another one of my good friends.

I am thrilled to release the music we recorded, as it’s been a project I’ve been envisioning for several years. It’ll be the first project I release out of, hopefully, many.

What matters most to you? Why?
The people in my life mean the most to me. I would be nothing without my family and friends.

Music also matters a lot to me. It’s how I express myself, and I feel that it’s a large part of my identity. I feel so fortunate that I get to study music and that it’s something I can share with others, whether it be the musicians I play with or the audiences I play for. Both mean so much to me.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @lana.drincic
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@lanadrincic3012

Image Credits
Brandon Muhawi Tonykfilms