Dr. Hilary Hobbs

Dr. Hilary Hobbs teaches at Kenyon College as an Adjunct Instructor of Music and served as Principal Oboe of the Northwest Indiana Symphony Orchestra for the 2023-2024 season. She earned her Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Rutgers University and her Master and Bachelor of Music from The Ohio State University. She has performed at the following music festivals: Lake George Music Festival, Festival Napa Valley, the Akropolis Chamber Music Institute, Atlantic Music Festival, Hidden Valley Music Seminar, Rocky Ridge Young Artist Seminar, and the International Music Mastercourses Festival.

Dr. Hobbs served as Principal Oboe and Second Oboe/English horn in the Brook Orchestra for the 2022-2023 and 2021-2022 seasons, respectively. She has also performed with the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, Huntington Symphony Orchestra, South Orange Symphony, Monmouth Symphony, Worthington Chamber Orchestra, and the Knox County Symphony. She maintains her own reed-making business.

Artist Statement

As a teacher, I strive to create a safe learning environment that encourages student engagement, inquisitiveness, self-awareness, and self-reflection. My flexible teaching style emphasizes the fundamentals and caters to all types of learners by using a blend of modeling, visual instruction, and verbal instruction. It is very important to me to foster a relationship with my students where we work together to achieve a common goal. Although my main role in their lives is as a music instructor, it is of vital importance to me to prepare students for a life outside of school, even if that life does not necessarily include a career in music. I want students to become great musicians and human beings.