Arthur Hobbs discovered his passion for music relatively late. “I started in sixth-grade band class,” he said, “and realized I was slowly growing on oboe.” However, the junior has since branched out many times. “I play violin, sorta; I joined the band, choir, and orchestra; I play piano a little,” Hobbs said. Despite this workload, he still finds the time to indulge his interest in more unusual instruments outside of school. “I have fun with recorders,” he said, casually adding, “and also, there’s the bagpipes.”
“In freshman year, I offhandedly decided to join early bird choir,” Hobbs said. “That first day, we were doing a warmup, a sort of lip-buzzing thing. Then we moved to a sort of ‘ahh,’ and I was instantly in love with the sound.” He has since connected with others over his love of song. “I wanted to do a small a cappella group,” he said, so he founded Arthur and Co. in his sophomore year. This year, the band appeared at WAHS Got Talent with the lineup of Hobbs and seniors Jake Beard, Phoenix Claibourn, and Jack Jahoda-Wassung. “Recently, I’ve fallen in love with barbershop music,” Hobbs said. Following their performance of “Sh-Boom (Life Could Be a Dream),” he said “now the four of us have this song we sing all the time.” It was the second year of Arthur and Co. membership for Beard, who said, “Arthur is amazing. Very musically inclined.” On the band, Beard said, “[Hobbs] is a great singer and everyone else he picked is too. It’s just a little group of guys who decided to sing for the talent show one time. It’s a great time.”
Some of his interests are even more recent. This year, he joined the orchestra after a summer spent learning the violin. Last year, Hobbs was inspired after attending the orchestra’s Ready, Set, Play outreach event. Afterwards, he said, “I just asked Ms. Vaughn [the orchestra teacher] for a violin” and practiced all summer.
“Violin is the best instrument,” Hobbs said. “Oboe is so much worse, but also much more fun. There are incredible versatilities with the violin, but oboe is my first.” At times, it can be difficult for Hobbs to find the motivation to play. “There’s a lot of spite involved, but also, you’ve said, ‘I’m going to take on this responsibility.’” Eventually, he said his passion takes over. “It’s really enjoyable when you’re playing the music,” he said. “It’s a pain to start practicing, but once you do, you never want to stop.” Most of all, he enjoys the accomplishment music gives him. “I love the moment where you end a note, you end a song, and it ends quietly,” he said. “Everyone knows the song is done, and there’s a silent realization that that was music.”
Even as he pursues other goals, Hobbs has serious ambitions for his music. After graduation, he said, “I intend to go study both music and engineering.” In fact, his musical career has already begun. “I got a paid gig at the church in Crozet,” Hobbs said. He plans to seek out more opportunities to share his work. “I’ll look for gigs where I’ll get to play my instrument for the community,” he said. For Hobbs, the hardest part of being a musician is balancing all these obligations. “It’s about keeping up with all your rehearsals, knowing when everything is,” he said, “dealing with being double-booked and having to say ‘I have another gig.’”
Hobbs said dedication is the key to musicianship. “The fundamentals, your scales and your arpeggios, they help when you’re learning a new instrument,” he said, “but just playing music is important.” He urged prospective musicians to stay tuned for inspiration. “Keep listening,” he said. “It’s everywhere.”
