David Hobson (tenor)

David Hobson (born 18 November 1960) is an Australian opera singer and composer.

Born in Ballarat, Australia, Hobson sang with church and school choirs and local music groups as a child, but he was still vocally untrained when he performed as lead singer and bass guitarist with rock bands while studying at the University of Melbourne. However, despite this lack of formal training, after his voice was heard on a demonstration tape of Macbeth (see below) he was invited to join the Victoria State Opera, understudying the role of Frederic in the VSO's Joseph Papp (Broadway) version of The Pirates of Penzance in 1986. This led to his becoming a member of the company's Young Artists Programme, and making his debut as Rodolfo in a Victorian country tour production of La bohème in 1987. In 1988 he made his debut with The Australian Opera (now Opera Australia) when he created the role of Lawrence in the world premiere of Brian Howard's opera Whitsunday.

He is the composer of Macbeth (a 1985 music theatre piece),Remembering Rosie (2001 chamber opera), The Loch Ard Suite (for the 2002 light/sound installation Shipwrecked at Warrnambool) and the award-winning 2004 orchestral score for the Australian film One Perfect Day, as well as a number of songs including Inside This Room and the title song for One Perfect Day.

In 1990, he reprised the role of Rodolfo, opposite Cheryl Barker as Mimì, in a new production of La bohème for The Australian Opera, directed by Baz Luhrmann; this went on to become one of the company's most successful productions. It was filmed during its 1993 return season and broadcast on ABC TV several times. Released on VHS in 1994, it was to become the first opera available on DVD (1998) and continues to be a best seller worldwide.

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