Lan Kratzke grew up in Northern Virginia.  Born to two very encouraging mathematicians, she decided to pursue the piano at Randolph-Macon Woman's College studying with Dr. Ray Luck, and finished her Bachelors of Music at The University of Texas at Austin under the tutelage of Dr. Betty Mallard.  She received her Master of Music degree in Piano Performance from Miami University in Oxford OH, where she served as a graduate assistant to Dr. Siok Lian Tan.  There she taught functional piano courses to college music majors, performed as a member of the Graduate Piano Trio, and appeared with the Miami University Symphony Orchestra as one of the Concerto Competition winners.  She is also particularly interested in the sounds of earlier keyboard music, and was able to obtain a grant to build her own clavichord with a kit from The Paris Workshop.

Upon graduation, she began teaching at the West Chester Academy of Music, directed by Patsy Rabinowitz.  There, she enjoyed private students ranging from the ages of four through the mid-sixties.  She was also certified to teach in the Music for Young Children program, in which she taught up to ten classroom courses a week for groups of young children.  Before her experiences in Ohio, Lan taught piano through the UT Piano Pedagogy Project under the direction of Professor Sophia Gilmson, at Belvoir Terrace Fine and Performing Arts Camp in Lenox MA, and Appel Farm Arts and Music Center in Elmer NJ.

When not at the piano, Lan enjoys spending time outdoors, doing puzzles, and visiting her lovely family.