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 forty new works to date.
Keeping a rigorous touring schedule, the Gaudete Brass Quintet has performed at renowned venues including the Pritzker Pavillion at Millennium Park in Chicago, as well as Symphony Space, Kaufman Music Center, and Carnegie Hall in New York City. With the quintet, Scott has also recorded award-winning albums: Brass Outings (2006, self-produced), winner of the CD Baby Editors’ Choice distinction and nominee for Just Plain Folks Best Classical Chamber Album; Conversations in Time with organist R. Benjamin Dobey (2011, Pro Organa); and Chicago Moves, produced by Grammy winner Judith Sherman and featuring several of its commissioned works (2012, Cedille Records). The quintet’s latest album, sevenfive—The John Corigliano Effect, released in February 2017 (Cedille Records), brings a fresh perspective to the legacy of the prolific American composer with an inventive collection of new works by five of his protégés, commissioned in honor of Corigliano’s 75th birthday celebration.
Gaudete Brass has also presented educational programs and concerts at the Juilliard School, Eastman School of Music, Arizona State University, and is currently an ensemble-in-residence at Roosevelt University’s Chicago College of Performing Arts.
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 camaraderie among his students to encourage them to be comfortable taking risks in performance, and to learn how to play for each other and the public with conviction. Over time, they learn to play beyond the notes toward interpretative performance.
In addition to teaching at UIC, Scott teaches applied tuba/euphonium and chamber music at Northern Illinois University, DePaul University, Carthage College (Kenosha, WI), and North Central College (Naperville, IL). In addition, Scott coaches young musicians at the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras and the Merit School of Music, and maintains a large private studio. He regularly freelances with a variety of orchestras in the Chicagoland area, and is a frequent guest lecturer on career development, entrepreneurship, and building successful teaching studios.