Biography

Scott Tegge dedicates his career to the performance and expansion of repertoire for the tuba and brass quintet, and to developing the next generation through his work as an educator.

With a long-standing passion for chamber music, Scott has performed extensively in brass quintets since the age of fourteen, and founded his current ensemble, the Gaudete Brass Quintet, in 2004. (pronounced gow-day-tay.) Toward the goal of leaving future musicians robust and expanded repertoire, Scott and the Gaudete Brass are particularly committed to commissioning original works for brass, and have premiered more than fifty new works to date. Keeping a rigorous touring schedule, the Gaudete Brass Quintet has performed at a variety of venues including the Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park in Chicago, Symphony Space, Kaufman Music Center, and Carnegie Hall in New York City. Gaudete Brass has also recorded critically acclaimed albums featuring many of their commissions and other original brass works.

Scott has presented extensive educational programs, master classes, and concerts at The Juilliard School, Eastman School of Music, Arizona State University, University of Michigan, and Vanderbilt University, as well as at numerous high schools and community music schools as part of the quintet’s touring activities.

As an educator, Scott upholds three main performance principles: good sound, confidence, and artistic point-of-view. In his teaching, Scott helps students develop their own voices as musicians through confidence building and self-directed learning. Believing that no music is worth making if it does not sound good, he also emphasizes developing a solid technical foundation with his students, focusing on good habits in breathing, phrasing, and dedication to fundamentals such as long tones and scales. Scott builds a strong camaraderie among his students to support one another in taking performance risks and to learn how to play for each other and the public with conviction. Over time, they learn to play beyond the right notes toward interpretative music making and performance.

In addition to teaching tuba, euphonium, chamber music, and orchestral studies, Scott has developed methods to teach students how to think differently about a life in music, which he now teaches as workshops and college courses on creative career building.

Scott regularly freelances with a variety of orchestras in the Chicagoland area, and is a frequent speaker and guest lecturer on inventive career development, entrepreneurship, and building successful teaching studios.

Teaching

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Tuba & Euphonium

University of Illinois at Chicago Tuba & Euphonium, Chamber Music

Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras Chamber Music, Sectional Coaching, Audition Adjudication

Recordings

sevenfive – The John Corigliano Effect An inventive collection of new works by five protégés of John Corigliano, commissioned by Gaudete Brass in honor of Corigliano’s 75th birthday celebration. Each composition brings a fresh perspective to the legacy of the prolific American composer.

Chicago Moves Selected new works written for Gaudete Brass, including the quintet’s very first commission. The compositions add new American voices to the brass quintet canon. This is the quintet’s debut album with Cedille Records, produced by Grammy winner Judith Sherman.

Conversations in Time A collaboration album with organist R. Benjamin Dobey featuring original music for brass and organ, produced by Pro Organo label.

Brass Outings The very first album of Gaudete Brass, self-produced in 2006. Winner of the CDBaby Editors’ Choice distinction and nominee for Just Plain Folks Best Classical Chamber Album.