LHF 2007 Directors


Robert A. Hobby - Festival Organist

	Robert A. Hobby is Director of Music at Trinity English Lutheran Church, Fort Wayne, Indiana. In the congregation of almost 3,500 members, his responsibilities include playing for many of the worship services, overseeing the graded choral program, and managing the concerts that the church offers. Among the numerous activities during his tenure, Trinity Church has established a choral series with seventeen composers commissioned thus far, hosted a regional convention of the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians, produced four recordings, and expanded the opportunities for music ministry, including a youth choir of forty teenagers. 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 most recently, he has had 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 one hundred 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; the work is scheduled for publication with MorningStar in the spring of 2007. As a performer and clinician Mr. Hobby keeps an active schedule throughout the United States. He has played for several of the national conventions of the Hymn Society of the United States and Canada and 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 addition, his clinics on service playing and creative hymn singing have gathered wide acclaim from chapters of the American Guild of Organists and other similar organizations. Mr. Hobby is a member of a number of professional music organizations and has held a variety of leadership positions. Until recently, he chaired “Young Lutherans Sing,” a national summer choral program for children, sponsored by the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians. In addition, in 1996 he designed and coordinated a hymn festival that was performed simultaneously at one hundred sites around the United States and Canada to commemorate the tenth anniversary of ALCM. He also has served as a member of the Program Committee for the Fort Wayne Philharmonic. Robert and his wife, Jennifer, are the proud parents of three daughters: Hannah, Lydia, and Elizabeth.

Samuel J. Eatherton - Festival Choir Director

	Samuel J. Eatherton was born on July 15, 1974, in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. He began his undergraduate studies at Concordia College, Seward, Nebraska, in the fall of 1992. There, he participated in the band and choral programs and studied organ under Dr. Charles Ore. He graduated in May of 1996, with a degree in Elementary Education (Music Concentration). He served at Trinity Lutheran Church and School in St. Joseph, Michigan for four years. In the summer of 2000, He and his family moved to Dallas, where Sam was installed as Minister of Music at Zion Lutheran Church. In the fall of 2003, Sam completed his Master of Church Music Degree at Concordia University, River Forest, Illinois, receiving the Richard Hillert Award in Composition. In 2005 Sam’s composition O Splendor of the Father’s Light was published by Concordia Publishing House, and most recently CPH has published his set of organ chorales, “Hymn Inventions: 9 Chorale Preludes for the Church Year.” Sam teaches music to 3rd through 8th Graders at Zion. He also plans worship, serves as organist and directs the adult choir and adult handbell choir. Sam and his wife, Lois, have been blessed with four children: Hannah, Rebekah, Ruth, and David.

Cynthia Nott - Artistic Director Children's Chorus of Greater Dallas

	Cynthia Nott has been Artistic Director of the Children’s Chorus of Greater Dallas since its inception in 1997. Under her leadership, the Chorus has grown dramatically, earned the respect of the Dallas area music community, and impressed audiences by its artistic excellence. In addition to its own concert schedule, Ms. Nott has prepared the Chorus to perform with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the Dallas Opera, the Mesquite Civic Chorus, Orpheus Chamber Singers, and the Voices of Change. Prior to becoming full-time Artistic Director of the CCGD, Ms. Nott taught public middle school choral music for 23 years. Nott has been actively involved in a wide range of professional choral activities. She has served as clinician and consultant for music teachers, conductors and singers throughout the United States . She has appeared as guest conductor for All-Region and All-State choirs. Nott earned a Bachelor of Music Education from Florida State University and a Master of Music in Choral Conducting from Southern Methodist University. She holds affiliations with the American Choral Directors Association and the Texas Music Educators Association.