Jana Crenshaw (aka Jana Losey) is a singer-songwriter and composer originally from Lawrenceville, PA. Though her beginnings are small-town, Crenshaw has toured the US and Canada extensively, first with wacky, avante-garde musical troupe Squonk Opera, and most recently with her solo material, under her maiden name, Jana Losey.
While performing with Squonk, Jana acquired the vocal skills, stamina, and stage presence that landed the group on Broadway with ‘BigSmorgasbordWunderWerk’, and Jana in the lead role. As the internal workings of Squonk slowly spun themselves into something like a VH-1 ‘Behind the Music’ episode, Jana left the group to pursue another career in 2001.
In 2005, she met producer/guitar/bassist Melanie Peters, and together they produced 3 albums (Bittersweet, Blocks, Bare Bones), a video for the song ‘5 Days’ that spent 10 weeks at #1 on MTV’s LOGO channel, and a TV show (‘The Song You Heard’) that aired regionally through PA and NY.
Jana moved to Portland, OR in 2008, and after a hiatus from music, slowly rekindled her love of theater, composing music and soundscapes for shows at Portland Center Stage (Kodachrome, Constellations, Oregon Trail, Vanya, Sonia and Masha and Spike, futura, Small Fire, Chinglish, Other Desert Cities), Portland Playhouse (Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K LeGuin/Hand2Mouth), Liminal (Our Town), and performing in a devised piece called “Please Validate Your Identity” as part of Portland’s Fertile Ground Festival. Jana also scored "Note to Self", produced and directed by Adrienne Flagg at COHO Theater, and recently had the pleasure of writing a saxophone score for Profile Theater's "2.5 Minute Ride" by Lisa Kron.
Jana is currently starting work on a new solo album, as well as an album of instrumental music, working on a collaboration with Hip Hop artist Mic Crenshaw, writing a solo theater piece, teaching piano and music appreciation, and hopes to be composing and performing more and more!
While performing with Squonk, Jana acquired the vocal skills, stamina, and stage presence that landed the group on Broadway with ‘BigSmorgasbordWunderWerk’, and Jana in the lead role. As the internal workings of Squonk slowly spun themselves into something like a VH-1 ‘Behind the Music’ episode, Jana left the group to pursue another career in 2001.
In 2005, she met producer/guitar/bassist Melanie Peters, and together they produced 3 albums (Bittersweet, Blocks, Bare Bones), a video for the song ‘5 Days’ that spent 10 weeks at #1 on MTV’s LOGO channel, and a TV show (‘The Song You Heard’) that aired regionally through PA and NY.
Jana moved to Portland, OR in 2008, and after a hiatus from music, slowly rekindled her love of theater, composing music and soundscapes for shows at Portland Center Stage (Kodachrome, Constellations, Oregon Trail, Vanya, Sonia and Masha and Spike, futura, Small Fire, Chinglish, Other Desert Cities), Portland Playhouse (Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K LeGuin/Hand2Mouth), Liminal (Our Town), and performing in a devised piece called “Please Validate Your Identity” as part of Portland’s Fertile Ground Festival. Jana also scored "Note to Self", produced and directed by Adrienne Flagg at COHO Theater, and recently had the pleasure of writing a saxophone score for Profile Theater's "2.5 Minute Ride" by Lisa Kron.
Jana is currently starting work on a new solo album, as well as an album of instrumental music, working on a collaboration with Hip Hop artist Mic Crenshaw, writing a solo theater piece, teaching piano and music appreciation, and hopes to be composing and performing more and more!
