About Us
The Iowa Guitar Quartet was formed by its members in 2016 as an outgrowth of their involvement with the Heart of Iowa Classical Guitar Society. Based in the Des Moines area, IGQ has performed in many venues and college campuses across the state of Iowa. They maintain an active performance schedule.
With a studio of students that consistently runs more than 60 deep, Steven Kennedy is one of the most in-demand guitar instructors in central Iowa. He is also one of the most sought-after classical guitarists in the area for gigs and recitals. He serves as guitar instructor at both Central College in Pella and Simpson College in Indianola. His debut album, Pequeño vals para Florencia (featuring works by Bach, Sor, Máximo Diego Pujol, and José Luis Merlin) was released in 2013. Steven is also an avid chamber musician, performing in various duos in addition to IGQ.
Steven received his Master of Music degree from Belmont University (Nashville, TN) and his Bachelor of Music degree from Simpson College; both in classical guitar performance. He has performed in master classes for notable guitarists Jason Vieaux, Jerome Ducharme, and Petar Jankovic, and additionally has observed classes given by Eliot Fisk, Christopher Parkening, the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, Douglas Niedt, Jorge Caballero, Aniello Desiderio, Denis Azabagić, and Matt Palmer, among others. In addition to his experience in classical music, Steven is proficient in many commercial music genres including jazz, blues, and rock.
Steven currently serves as the president of the Heart of Iowa Classical Guitar Society - an organization that actively promotes classical guitar music and education across the state of Iowa.
David Crabbs is an Iowa native and is the classical guitar instructor at Drake University. David is also the owner and instructor of the Ankeny Guitar Studio in Ankeny, Iowa where
he resides.
Dave Reynolds has been playing guitar for over 30 years, and was first inspired to begin studying the classical guitar after his older sister gave him a vinyl recording entitled the “Art of Julian Bream”. Dave began his study of the classical guitar at the University of Northern Iowa with Bob Dunn and Thomas Becker in the mid-1980s. Dave also studied privately with Douglas Niedt through his summer guitar study program in Kansas City. Over the years, he has performed in numerous master classes with notable guitarists including Ricardo Iznaola, Jorge Morel, Christopher Parkening, and the late John Sutherland. Dave is one of the founding members of the Heart of Iowa Classical Guitar Society and currently serves as the treasurer and secretary of the Society.
Thomas Finn is a guitarist of all sorts, but his focus is the classical guitar. He has studied guitar since his early childhood, but began studying more seriously at the 'Ye Olde Guitar Shoppe' with jazz guitarist Willie Shay and classical guitarists Paul Wilson and Daniel Mastrofski. At Simpson College, he studied classical guitar with Aaron Powell. Recently, Thomas studied with classical guitarist Douglas Niedt in Kansas City.