Aileen James
Aileen James began her formal training at the age of five. She holds both Bachelor and Master degrees from Pacific Union College and a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Performance from Stanford University. Further studies have been at USC, the Schubert Institute in Austria, and the Royamount Music Festival in France. She is an acclaimed performer as soloist, duo-pianist, chamber musician and accompanist. Dr. James has studied with Adolph Baller of the Alma Trio and Menahem Pressler of the Beaux Arts Trio.
Dr. James has been a private teacher for 40 years and has served on the faculties of Pacific Union College, Stanford and Santa Clara Universities. From 1986 - 1997 she was the Artistic Director of the American Pianists Association in Indianapolis, heading its Biennial National Piano Fellowship Competition and fellowship program. Currently, Aileen resides in Grass Valley and remains active with frequent performance engagements throughout Northern California, her private teaching studio,, and serving on Twin Cities Concert Association’s and Music in the Mountain’s Boards of Directors.
The Ronen Trio has performed for the Mendocino Chamber Music Series, the Apollo Arts Series, and the CSU Sacramento Chamber Music Conference.
Ken Hardin
Ken Hardin is artistic director/conductor of Twin Cities Concert Association/Orchestre Panache; conductor of Music in the Mountains' Festival Chorus; pianist/harpsichordist for MIM's Festival Orchestra; half of the popular piano duo "2x4" with Paul Perry; jazz pianist with the Ken Hardin Trio; conductor of the Sierra College Choir and teaches on the faculty at Sierra College. He also works with Foothill Theatre Company, recently serving as musical director for their production of Woody Guthrie: An American Song. Hardin graduated from CSU, Northridge and continued on the faculty there until moving to Nevada County in 1984
Phil Richardson
Phil Richardson, horn, received a B.B. in Horn performance from San Francisco State University and an M.M. from the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music. His career has taken him to Venezuela, Europe, Asia, and throughout the U.S. where he has performed with the Cincinnati Symphony, Caracas Philharmonic, Mozarteum Orchestra of Salzburg, Basler Radio Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, San Jose Symphony, and music festival orchestras at Aspen, Lake Tahoe, Rome, and Sun Valley – and Music in the Mountains. He has been principal horn and personnel manager for the Monterey Symphony Orchestra for the past seventeen seasons. Richardson and his family moved to Grass Valley last spring.
