Lucina Horner was born in New York City and started taking violin lessons at the age of nine. After attending the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School for Music and the Arts in New York City, she went on to study at the State University of New York, College at Purchase where she switched to the viola. In 1980 she entered the Juilliard School where she obtained her Bachelor of Music in Viola Performance and studied with William Lincer and Paul Doktor. Between 1983 and 1985, she was enrolled in the Cleveland Institute of Music Master's of Music program, studying with Robert Vernon. She has also studied with such teachers as Ellen Rose, John Graham and Nardo Poy.
While attending conservatory Lucina participated in the New York String Orchestra Seminar conducted by Alexander Schneider, the Cleveland Chamber Music Seminar as well as numerous summer programs including The Quartet Program, Colorado Philharmonic and the Aspen Music Festival Fellowship program. After completing her studies Lucina won a job in the viola section of the Oklahoma Symphony Orchestra and spent one year there, then went on to play with the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra as Assistant Principal Viola for 10 years, and the Colorado Symphony for 2 years as both a section player and Acting Assistant Principal. She is currently in the viola section of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra and occasionally substitutes with both the Dallas and Detroit Symphony Orchestras, having accompanied the Dallas Symphony on two international tours.
Aside from her work with the Alabama Symphony, Lucina teaches both violin and viola as well as participates in recitals and chamber music concerts. Lucina is also adjunct faculty at the University of Montevallo where she teaches the String Pedagogy course. Lucina is long-time participant of the Grand Teton Music Festival which takes place in Jackson Hole, Wyoming for seven weeks each summer. In addition to performing and teaching, from 1999 to 2003, Lucina was the administrator for the Primrose Memorial Scholarship Competition, a bi-annual competition under the sponsorship of the American Viola Society which is open to young, talented violists under the age of 28. Lucina plays on an Igino Sderci viola made in 1949 and enjoys cross-stitching, yoga and hiking in her free time.