Concert to Celebrate Life of Late EIU Music Professor W. David Hobbs
Mar-23-2009
Friends, students and colleagues are to take to the stage to celebrate the life and artistry of the late W. David Hobbs, a much-respected Eastern Illinois University music professor.
The memorial concert is set for 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 4, in the Doudna Fine Arts Center's Dvorak Concert Hall. Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for students; all proceeds will support the W. David Hobbs Piano Scholarship.
The program is to include some of Hobbs' favorite music. Pianists scheduled to perform are Keith Ward, Hobbs' closest friend from their graduate school days; Rachel Warfel of Tuscola, an EIU music alumnus and local piano teacher; Harrison Cole, an EIU senior majoring in piano performance; EIU faculty member Susan Teicher and her daughter, Pamela, playing duets that Teicher and Hobbs once shared; and Marilyn Coles, an EIU faculty member and close friend of Hobbs.
In addition, trumpet player Brian Shaw, an EIU music alumnus and close friend of Hobbs', is to perform with Teicher. Shaw, who teaches at Louisiana State University and is co-principal trumpet of the Dallas Wind Symphony, is also to perform some of Hobbs' favorite jazz tunes with EIU faculty members Paul Johnston and Sam Fagaly.
Hobbs, an accomplished pianist, was an active soloist and chamber musician throughout the U.S. He accompanied Shaw in several prominent competitions, including the International Trumpet Guild Convention in Manchester, England, where they won first place in the solo competition.
As an EIU music professor from 1991 until his death in 2007, Hobbs was devoted to his students, many of whom have gone on to be acclaimed teachers and performers.
Hobbs earned his degrees in piano performance -- his bachelor's and doctoral degrees from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and his master’s degree from Northwestern University.
Hobbs' great wish was to help future generations of piano students at EIU achieve their goals through the establishment of the scholarship in his name, said Marilyn Coles, who is coordinating the concert.
For Doudna tickets and information, or to arrange accommodations for people with special needs, contact Doudna Fine Arts Patron Services (217-581-3110 or doudnatix@eiu.edu) or visit the Doudna Fine Arts Center Box Office.
The Doudna is located one block west of Ninth Street at Garfield Avenue on the EIU campus. Free parking is available in the any of the university lots found at the corner of Ninth and Garfield and immediately south of the center.
The Doudna Fine Arts Center is a division of the EIU College of Arts and Humanities. For more information, please see http://www.eiu.edu/doudna.
