Just Released
Robert Speed Memorial Concert
9/28/2017A memorial concert in honor of the late Robert M. Speed will be presented at West Des Moines United Methodist Church, 720 Grand Ave. in West Des Moines on Sunday, Oct. 8 at 4 p.m. Featured organists include Mark Babcock, Carl Gravander, David Raymond, Deanna Snyder (and flautist, Joni Kinnan) and former organ students of Bob’s including Sawyer Shiffler, a high school student in Des Moines. The Grand View Choir will also present choral music composed by Professor Speed. This event is sponsored by the Central Iowa Chapter of the American Guild of Organists.
So glad to see Dr. Robert Speed honored with a Memorial Concert. In addition to being a world-class musician, composer and educator, he was a dear friend to our family and many friends who enjoyed his unique sense of humor as well as his love of travel and lifelong learning.
Mr. Speed was a remarkable man. He was an absolutely wonderful musician and a true gentleman. I enjoyed my years with him as a student at Grand View College. He had a great sense of humor and enjoyed pulling pranks on others. He also enjoyed having pranks pulled on him.
As an adult I could never bring myself to call him Bob. It was always “Mr. Speed.”
I greatly enjoyed Mr. Speed’s music and English classes while I was a student at Grandview. He was a very enthusiastic teacher and passed his love of his subjects on to his students!