b. 1962 Person Name: Robert Hobby Topics: Offering of Sacrifice Composer of "[Out of Zion, perfect in beauty]" in Psalms for All Seasons Robert A. Hobby currently serves as Director of Music for Trinity English Lutheran Church, Fort Wayne, Indiana, where his responsibilities include playing for many of the worship services, overseeing the graded choral program, and managing the concerts the church offers. Numerous activities during his tenure include Trinity Church establishing a choral series with seventeen composers commissioned thus far, hosting a regional convention of the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians, producing four recordings, and expanding the opportunities for music ministry.
Mr. Hobby received his Bachelor's Degree in Church Music from Wittenberg University in 1985 and a Master's Degree in Organ Performance from the University of Notre Dame in 1987. His organ teachers have included Darwin Leitz, Kirby and Kristi Koriath, Donald Busarow, and Craig Cramer. His private study in composition has been under Donald Busarow and Richard Hillert. He has had private coaching in improvisation with Paul Manz and compositional coaching from English composer, Andrew Carter.
To date, most of his composition time has been spent writing commissions for churches and organizations throughout the country. Over 150 of Mr. Hobby?s compositions are in print with Augsburg Fortress Publishing House, Choristers Guild, Concordia Publishing House, G.I.A. Publishers, MorningStar Music Publishers, Northwestern Publishers, Pavane Publishing Co., and Warner Brothers Publishers. His music has been heard on nationally syndicated radio programs such as The Lutheran Hour, Pipe Dreams, and Sing for Joy. A representation of his writing for organ, choral, and instrumental forces can be found on Thine Is the Glory, a recording produced by MorningStar Publishers. In 2006, Mr. Hobby premiered a major work of his entitled "The Good Shepherd" which is scored for tenor solo, adult and children's choirs, and orchestra; it is published with MorningStar Music Publishers. His compositions are present in two hymnals: Evangelical Lutheran Worship and Lutheran Service Book.
As a performer and clinician, Mr. Hobby keeps an active schedule throughout the United States. He has played for the national conventions of the Hymn Society of the United States and Canada, Organ Historical Society, and National Pastoral Musicians, and he has played for both national and regional conventions of the Association of the Lutheran Church Musicians and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. He has been a featured artist with the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, performing Poulenc's Organ Concerto and Haydn's Organ Concerto #2 in C. In 2005, he conducted the premiere performance of Andrew Carter's Concerto in C for organ and orchestra with David Higgs at the organ. In addition, his workshops for both regional conventions and individual chapter meetings of the American Guild of Organists and other similar organizations have gathered wide acclaim.
Mr. Hobby is a member of a number of professional music organizations and has held a variety of leadership positions. For several years he chaired Young Lutherans Sing, a national summer choral program for children, sponsored by the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians. In 1996, he designed and coordinated a hymn festival that was performed simultaneously at 100 sites around the United States and Canada to commemorate the 10th anniversary of ALCM. He has also served as Dean of the Fort Wayne American Guild of Organists and as a member of the Program Committee for the Fort Wayne Philharmonic.
Mr. Hobby and his wife, Jennifer, are the proud parents of three daughters: Hannah, Lydia, and Elizabeth.
--www.morningstarmusic.com/
Robert A. Hobby
My Starred Hymns
My FlexScores
My Hymnals
My Purchased Files
