The Belin Quartet was established in 1999 by a grant to Civic Music Association by the Iowa Foundation for Education, Environment, and the Arts, a charitable foundation created by David Belin. David Belin (1928-1999) 
was a prominent attorney, civic leader, and philanthropist who moved to Des Moines in 1954 and had a tremendous impact on the city during the last half of the 20th century.

A talented violinist himself, he loved music. He also loved Des Moines, and with his trademark bow tie, he was an ever-present supporter of music and the arts in the city. Belin envisioned a community with the opportunity to share in the joys of classical music, which is realized through the Belin Quartet. After his death in 1999, David Belin’s children made the first of 17 annual grants through the Foundation to underwrite the Belin Quartet.

The Belin Quartet consists of alternating violinists Julie Fox Henson, John Helmich, and Tracy Engman Finkelshteyn, violist Jonathan Sturm, and cellist George Work.