About Us
Kirkwood String Quartet
The Kirkwood String Quartet is one of the most sought-after ensembles in Indiana for wedding ceremony music, corporate events, and parties. The group performs both classical music as well as original arrangements of popular non-classical songs, bringing a level of artistry and professionalism that your guests are sure to notice.
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Meet our musicians
Jenny Gaffney
Violin
Jenny Gaffney is an avid violist and educator, performing and teaching throughout the midwest. She currently serves as the violist and director of education with the Cincinnati String Project. As an orchestral musician, she has performed regularly with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic, and the Richmond Symphony Orchestra. As an educator, she has worked with the Fairview Violin Project, the IU Distance Teaching Learning Lab, and the Cincinnati School of Music. Jenny earned her Bachelor’s and a Performance Diploma at Indiana University under the tutelage of Edward Gazouleas and Li-Kuo Chang.
Thomas Mathias
Violin
Welsh violinist Thomas Mathias has been broadcast live as a soloist on S4C Television and BBC Radio Cymru, and has given recitals across Europe and North America. Thomas is an Associate Artist of the Young Classical Artists Trust (YCAT) and Countess of Munster Trust. He won the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Julius Isserlis Scholarship and is a Hattori Foundation prize winner.
Thomas has performed as a soloist with orchestras in the UK and USA, and in 2026 will give the world premiere of Kian Ravaei’s violin concerto. In 2023, Thomas gave the UK premiere of Tessa Lark’s Ysaye Shuffle.
Recent performance highlights include solo and chamber appearances in Hawai’i, Texas, Nevada, Indiana, Florida, and the UK, including London and Prussia Cove. In 2022-23, Thomas was a member of the Kuttner Quartet-in-Residence at Indiana University.
Appointed Concertmaster of Ballet Indiana Orchestra in 2022, Thomas is an Artist Diploma candidate at Indiana University, studying with Mauricio Fuks and Alex Kerr. Thomas has been invited to give presentations at conferences across the world, including Japan, Poland, and the USA. He was awarded a Presser Foundation award for his work, and was published in the Journal of Research in Music Education in 2025.
Thomas is Artistic Director of the Tenby International Music Festival in Wales, United Kingdom.
Akari Hatanaka
Viola
Born and raised in Honolulu, Hawai’i, Akari Hatanaka is a dedicated musician, enjoying a versatile career performing on both violin and viola. She is the principal second violinist of Ballet Indiana and the second violinist of the Primavère Quartet, and has also been guest concertmaster of Ballet Indiana. Akari has performed with ensembles such as the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, the Sarasota Orchestra, the Louisville Orchestra, and the Hawai’i Symphony Orchestra. An avid chamber musician, she has performed with artists such as Naoko Tanaka and Rita Sloan, among others. Summer festival appearances include the Derby City, Hawai’i, and Mimir Chamber Music Festivals, the Aspen Music Festival and School, Le Domaine Forget de Charlevoix, and Orford Musique. She has studied with Mauricio Fuks, Alexander Kerr, Naoko Tanaka, and Mimi Zweig.
John Yang
Cello
John Yang, a Korean-American cellist from Louisville, Kentucky, began his studies with Susannah Onwood, former principal cellist of The Louisville Orchestra. He earned his Bachelor of Music degree from the Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University, where he studied with Felix Wang and represented the school at the 2017 Festival d’Aix-en-Provence. A versatile performer and educator based in Indianapolis, IN, John is an active recitalist and orchestral musician, regularly performing with ensembles across the Midwest. He holds a Master of Music and Performance Diploma in Solo Performance from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he is currently pursuing a Doctor of Music degree under Emilio Colón. From 2020 to 2024, John served as studio teaching assistant and Associate Instructor of Cello at Jacobs. He also maintains a private cello studio and is committed to fostering the next generation of musicians.