Gaudete

Dr. Natalie Douglass Grana is a hornist and educator based in Chicago, IL. Her integrative approach to teaching horn through singing and inner hearing has garnered international recognition, and she has worked with hundreds of students to develop fluency as hornists and as complete musicians.

Dr. Grana is currently on faculty at DePaul University, Loyola University, and Lake Forest College in Chicago and previously served as Assistant Professor of Horn and head of brass at Utah Valley University in Orem, UT. Dr. Grana is an authority on inner hearing and solfege training and specializes in transferring these skills to horn performance. Her pedagogy and teaching philosophies are greatly inspired by Zoltan Kodály, and she spent the 2015-2016 academic year on a U.S. Fulbright Grant to the Kodály Institute of the Liszt Academy of Music in Kecskemét, Hungary. She has appeared at numerous International Horn Society Symposia and regional horn workshops, has been a keynote speaker and clinician for NAfME, and has served as a visiting academic at Oxford University in Oxford, UK. Her masterclasses are in demand for hornists, brass players, and music educators alike. She has been a guest artist at some of the world’s finest musical institutions, including the Royal Conservatoire of the Hague (The Hague, Netherlands), the Royal Academy of Music (London, UK), the San Francisco Conservatory and the New England Conservatory (Boston, MA). She has taught horn and led the musicianship curriculum at the renowned Kendall Betts Horn Camp since 2013. Her book, "A Singing Approach to Horn Playing," is available through Oxford University Press.

As a performer, Dr. Grana is hornist with the Gaudete Brass, a Chicago-based brass quintet that actively commissions new pieces and performs across the country. She additionally performs regularly with the Alloy Horn Quartet, also based in Chicago. Her orchestral experience includes performing with the Chicago Philharmonic, Quad Cities Symphony, Utah Symphony, Louisville Symphony, Kentucky Symphony, and Illinois Symphony. She has played in backup ensembles for musicians like Josh Groban, Idina Menzel, and Mannheim Steamroller. While in Utah, she also recorded musical soundtracks, video game music, and film scores for various recording studios in Salt Lake City. She has toured under the batons of Lorin Maazel and Krzysztof Penderecki and performed in venues across Germany, Austria, Poland, France, the Netherlands, Hungary, Switzerland, and Oman.

Dr. Grana holds a D.M.A. in Horn Performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and an MM in Horn Performance and BME in Instrumental Music Education from the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. Her principal teachers include Randy Gardner, Bernhard Scully, Thomas Jostlein, and Kazimerz Machala. She studied solfege and voice under Agnes Gerges-Gal and Renata Darazs of the Liszt Academy of Music, Hungary.

Charles Russell Roberts is a Chicago-based trumpet player with the Gaudete Brass Quintet and Civic Orchestra of Chicago, regularly appears with the Evanston Symphony Orchestra, Symphony of Oak Park and River Forest, and has performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra. He holds bachelor's degrees in music theory and trumpet performance from the University of Florida, a Masters degree from the Eastman School of Music, and pursued post-graduate studies in orchestral performance and arts administration at Roosevelt University's Chicago College of Performing Arts. Charles's notable teachers and influences include Joyce Davis, James Thompson, Channing Philbrick, Mark Ridenour, and Christopher Martin.

Having grown up in New Orleans, Louisiana, Charles has an affinity for great food and spends his spare time cooking and trying new restaurants. In addition to his performing career, Charles works at Grenzebach Glier and Associates in the philanthropic services and council industry.

Scott Tegge is the tubist in the Gaudete Brass, and works to create performance opportunities for the group. A Chicago native, Scott received his Bachelor of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music in Tuba Performance. He continued his studies and received his Master's degree from University of Miami and Professional Diploma in Orchestral Studies from Roosevelt University's Chicago College of Performing Arts. While in Miami, he performed with numerous orchestras such as the New World Symphony, Miami Bach Society, Palm Beach Symphony, and he also served as the Principal Tuba with Miami Symphony Orchestra. In Chicago, Scott has performed with Elgin Symphony, Rockford Symphony, and Chicago Sinfonietta. In addition to his performing career, he serves on faculty at Carthage College, where he made his solo debut with the Carthage College Wind Ensemble on their tour to Japan. Scott also teaches at Merit School of Music, and coaches chamber music at Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras.

Bill Baxtresser is a Chicago based soloist and chamber musician who performs for both contemporary and classical trumpet audiences around the country. Having been honored as the Detroit’s Artist of the Year from Tuesday’s Musicale in 2013, Bill has captured the interest of a wide variety of musical organizations across the United States. 

Bill plays in Gaudete Brass, a chamber group committed to the enhancement of the brass quintet genre through the commissioning of new works and music education. Gaudete Brass joined the Cedille Records catalog in 2012 and released their debut album “Chicago Moves”. He is also the 2nd trumpet in the West Michigan Symphony under the direction of Scott Speck, and is an Artist Faculty at Roosevelt University. Bill teaches at Music Institute of Chicago and has lead masterclasses at some of the most esteemed music establishments in the United States including Juilliard School of Music, Eastman School of Music, Cal Arts, and the University of Michigan.

Bill studied trumpet at Western Michigan University under Dr. Stephen Jones and Scott Thornburg. He has also studied with some of the world’s preeminent trumpeters, including Barry Bauguss, Ramón Parcells, and Marcus Belgrave. Bill has performed at both Merkin Hall and Symphony Space, and he maintains strong ties to both the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra and the Chicago Composers Orchestra. Furthering his dedication to young musicians, Bill co-founded a music education publishing company, TKBB Press, in 2011. TKBB Press provides innovative new ideas to young musicians through its products, recordings and philosophies.

Paul Von Hoff is a trombonist and chamber music specialist who performs extensively on both historic and modern trombones. Paul is a founding member of the Gaudete Brass Quintet, a modern brass quintet founded in 2004 that has toured extensively, given masterclasses at schools such as Juilliard and Eastman, recorded four albums, most recently recording Chicago Moves and sevenfive for Cedille Records, and premiered over forty new works. Paul is also a founding member of Rook, a chamber ensemble dedicated to performing the music of the 16th and 17th centuries, where he plays baroque alto, tenor and bass trombones and Renaissance slide trumpet. Rook can be heard on its album eleven, featuring the rare instrumental combination of violin, bass violin, harpsichord and trombone. In addition to Rook, Paul has performed with Piffaro and Bella Voce, and recorded and performed with Three Notch’d Road and The Wayward Sisters. His work on the Renaissance slide trumpet has been featured on the video blog Rare and Strange Musical Instruments.

Paul is the trombone instructor at Carthage College as well on the music faculty at Roosevelt University as artist-in-residence with the GBQ. Paul holds a Bachelors degree cum laude from Northwestern University and a Masters Degree from Roosevelt University and has studied historic trombone with Greg Ingles, as well as modern trombone with Frank Crisafulli, Lawrence Borden, and Jay Friedman.

Outside of music, Paul enjoys exploring the speculative and fantastical worlds of Middle Earth, Narnia, Faerûn, Lankhmar, the Four Corners, and the Oasis. He is currently reading The Lord of the Rings to his three children for the third time. He also has a passion for exploring and enjoying good wine with his wife. Together, they are ranked in the top 300 amateur wine reviewers in America on the online wine community Vivino.

...trombonist Paul Von Hoff shines with his compact tone and seeming ease in the high register...”

-Barry Kilpatrick 
American Record Guide