Switch-hitting in musical theatre and opera, baritone Stephen Hobe has flourished in classical and crossover repertoire in hometown Chicago. Mr. Hobe is “a generous performer,” lauded for his charismatic and often quirky performances of particularly English and Italian repertoire.

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Mr. Hobe is excited to be a relatively new member of the Supplemental Chorus at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, where over the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 seasons he has performed in Macbeth, Beethoven's 9th Symphony, Ernani, and Don Carlos.

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Mr. Hobe's success with Madison Opera is evidenced by his stout performances through the 2018-2020 seasons as a Studio Artist. His notable roles include Marquis d'Obigny in La Traviata, five roles and Hawkins Fuller cover in Fellow Travelers, and Jupiter cover in Orpheus in the Underworld. Soloist with the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestra, covering Alfio in Cavalleria Rusticana, Silvio in Pagliacci, and Count Carl-Magnus in A Little Night Music, while also performing Mr. Lindquist in the same show.

 

Farther from home, Mr. Hobe has sung Tonio in Pagliacci with MIOpera in Bloomington, IL, and the Notary/Gianni Schicchi cover in Gianni Schicchi with St. Petersburg Opera. He has also frequently performed in concert with Kenosha Opera Festival. Mr. Hobe also sang more than forty concert performances with the Florentine Opera last summer in their Summer Concert Residency.

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Mr. Hobe has also impressed regional audiences with his portrayal of the Gamekeeper (Revírník) in Janáček’s Cunning Little Vixen at Roosevelt University before graduating this past spring. Also at Roosevelt, he brought to life Kauz in Die Heimkehr aus der Fremde, a Liederspiel by Mendelssohn. Other regional appearances include  Captain Corcoran in H.M.S. Pinafore with GSOC, Manfred cover in Jake Heggie's Two Remain with Chicago Fringe Opera, Parson Peel in Patience and Sarah with Third Eye Theatre Ensemble, Silvio in Pagliacci with Main Street Opera, John Proctor in The Crucible and Budd/Sid cover in Albert Herring with Chicago Summer Opera, and Le Chat/L’Horloge Comtoise in L’enfant et les sortilèges as a guest artist with North Park University.

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Mr. Hobe frequently enjoys utilizing his undergraduate degree in musical theatre, recently performing the following crossover credits: Sonny Malone in Xanadu with Beverly Theatre Guild, Eisenstein and Frank covers in  Die Fledermaus, Martin and the Governor covers in Candide both with Music Theatre Works, Duke/Dr. Carrasco in Man of La Mancha, and Peron in Evita at Carthage College, with the addition of A Little Night Music this season with Madison Opera. Mr. Hobe has been seen regionally performing with Music Theater Works, Main Street Opera, NewMoon Theatre, Towle Theatre, Chicago Summer Opera, North Park University, as well as with La Musica Lirica in Novafeltria, Italy.

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Growing into Chicago’s regional concert scene, he has been recently sought after as the baritone soloist in Fauré's Requiem, Rutter’s Mass for the Children, Dubois’ The Last Seven Words of Christ,  Duruflé’s Requiem, and the bass soloist in Handel’s Messiah. Mr. Hobe has also collaborated as a soloist in concert with Opera on Tap’s Chicago and Milwaukee chapters, Music Theatre Works, Candid Opera Company, New Moon Opera and Janus Concert Series, for which he is a founding member.

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Mr. Hobe studied paleontology and music theatre at Carthage College (2015). He then moved on to his Master’s degree in voice performance at Roosevelt University’s Chicago College of Performing Arts (2018), where he studied with Kurt Link.