Faces A musical audience &
elebrated composer Robert Hobby had reached a point where he wasn’t accepting commissions for new music. Instead, he was choosing to spend more time
with his family and to concentrate on his work as director of music at Trinity English Lutheran Church, Fort Wayne, Ind. That’s before the call came—to help the pope. True, it wasn’t a direct person-to-person with Pope Fran-
cis, but it was a call from the director of music at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. He asked Hobby if he would compose two pieces to be performed during the pope’s U.S. visit. Hobby’s moratorium on taking new work was put on
hold. “I was so ecstatic, but I didn’t want to get too excited
before I was sure it was all happening,” Hobby said. The son of a retired ELCA pastor and a graduate of
Wittenberg University, Springfield, Ohio, Hobby grew up immersed in church life, and music became a big part of it. “I played my first wedding when I was in fourth grade, and I played at church on a regular basis when I was in fifth grade,” he said. Still, Hobby was more interested at first in becoming an
architect, a passion he found watching his dad attend meet- ings for new building projects. “But doors just kept opening for me,” he said, regarding
his music career. What he thought would be a temporary stop at Trinity
has turned into a 27-year appointment, where he oversees five vocal choirs for children, youth and adults; two bell choirs; two steel drum ensembles; and a recorder consort ensemble, along with an associate director. More than 250 of his compositions have been published,
but the call to write for the pope may be the biggest of his career. Still, given the logistics and tight scheduling, several hur-
dles needed to be cleared before he got word that his new orchestrations actually would be performed—one at St. Pat- rick’s and the other at Madison Square Garden.
100 + birthdays
It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for Robert Hobby when he was asked to compose two pieces of music for Pope Francis’ visit to the U.S.
The first piece was a reworking of “Tu Es Petrus” (“You
Are Peter”), by Charles Marie Widor, for organ and orches- tra. The second, and perhaps most exciting, was the hymn “Alleluia, Sing to Jesus,” to be performed by a choir, an orchestra and the congregation. “For ‘Alleluia, Sing to Jesus’ I spent time reflecting on the
text alone. When I become more intimate with the text it becomes a spiritual journey,” he said. Hobby received the honor of being present for the per-
formance of both works, and he even got to sing in the choir at Madison Square Garden, giving him a chance to hear the mix of instruments and thousands of voices from an ideal spot. It also allowed him a closer view of the pope. Though he is grateful for the prestigious commission,
Hobby said all aspects of his Christian musical life are important. “Regardless of whether I’m writing for some small ele-
ment of a service with 100 people, or in this case writing for a lot of people, my calling is the same,” he said. “It’s to bring the glory to God, to see God in new ways and to be able to praise God in new ways.”
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104: Henrietta McGinnis, First, Plymouth, Ohio. 103: Alice Erickson, North Coon Prairie, Cashton, Wis.; Margaret Young, St. John, Hummelstown, Pa. 102: Ruth Lauritsen, St. John, Poughkeepsie, N.Y. 101: Lee Sorenson, First, Colorado Springs, Colo. 100: Freda Brosamle, St. John, Cushing, Iowa; Eleanor Burkholder, Third, Louisville, Ky.; Louise Cohn, Good Shep- herd, Concord, Calif.; Renata Emmans, St. John, Owatonna, Minn.; George
Garver, Gloria Dei, Holmes Beach, Fla.; Beulah Koering, Our Savior, Hillsboro, N.D.; Emma Lind- strom, First, Rush City, Minn.; Eleanor Rebuck and Mazie Snyder, Himmel, Dornsife, Pa.; Sylvia Schuler and Hilda Stolp, Zion, Pittsburgh; Melton Schulze, St. John, Poth, Texas; Melvin Steel- man, Holy Trinity, Miles, Mich.
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&KLFDJR ,/ November 2015 59
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