Ken Kraus, trombone, is a founding member and the principal trombonist for the Hendersonville Community Band (HCB). He is presently serving as the president of the HCB Board of Directors. He is a graduate of Hendersonville High School and Ora
l Roberts University, having earned a Bachelor of Music Education degree. He studied trombone under Keig Garvin. He is a Quality Engineer by trade; however, he has been very active in the local musical community. He is the Music Director and lead trombonist for the Buddy K Big Band, the Assistant Director for the First Baptist Church Orchestra, and has previously been a member of the Asheville Community Band and the Hendersonville Symphony, as well as several smaller bands and combos. He resides in Hendersonville with his wife Kathleen and their family. They have ten children and thirteen grandchildren.
Tiffany Bishop Hurley is a local flute instructor and performer. She also teaches and plays piccolo. She started playing the flute in 7th grade and continued her studies in her home state of Florida and then in North Carolina. While in high school, she participated in concert band, symphonic band, marching band, All District Band, Solo & Ensemble and the Hendersonville Symphony Youth Orchestra. She was also the winner of many scholarships and awards, including the John Philip Sousa Award, the R. Paul Barber Music Scholarship, the Tammy Belcher Memorial Scholarship and a Furman Winds & Percussion Scholarship. During high school, she studied with Candace Norton of the Hendersonville Symphony Orchestra and Cynthia Roop of Mars Hill College.
For her undergraduate degree, Tiffany attended Furman University in Greenville, SC. As a student there, she studied with Cynthia Hopkins of the South Carolina Philharmonic and the Augusta Symphony Orchestra. She has played under the batons of many prestigious directors such as Thomas Joiner, Les Hicken, Bing Vick, Jay Bocook and Frank Ticheli. She spent a semester studying abroad in Tuscany, Italy under the direction of Stefano Fanticelli, flute instructor of the Accademia dell'Arte and Liceo Musicale "F. Petrarca" of Arezzo, as well as a graduate of the Florence Conservatory. During her undergraduate career, Tiffany played in the concert band, symphonic band, woodwind quintet, Paladin Regiment, Furman University Symphony Orchestra and the Carolina Pops Orchestra. She had the privilege of playing in world premieres in both the United States and Europe of pieces by composers John Luther Adams, Kathryn Salfelder and Samuel Hunter. Tiffany received her Bachelor's of Arts Degree in Music on May 7th, 2011.
Since college, Tiffany has had the privilege of playing as a soloist with talented groups such as the Blue Ridge Ringers and also playing as a guest at many local churches, including St. James Episcopal Church in Hendersonville and the Brevard-Davidson River Presbyterian Church in Brevard.
She now teaches private flute and piccolo lessons in Hendersonville, NC and plays with the Hendersonville and Brevard Community Bands. She also plays as a freelance musician in the local community.