Andrew Cheetham, a trumpet professor, applied for a Reddin Grant the summer before he started his first semester at Eastern with the Gaudete Brass Quintet in mind.

The Reddin Grant is a grant faculty can apply for to fund educational achievement for students. With the funds from the grant, The Gaudete Brass Quintet, a Chicago based professional ensemble, will be performing Thursday evening in the Doudna Fine Arts Center.

The quintet consists of five musicians: Ryan Berndt and Bill Baxtresser play the trumpet; Jean McCullough plays the French horn; Scott Tegge plays the tuba; and Paul Von Hoff plays the trombone.

Von Hoff formed the quintet six years ago directly after finishing his master’s program in trombone performance at Northwestern University.

Von Hoff said he and the other musicians had no previous experience with managing an ensemble.

“We had to promote ourselves,” Von Hoff said. “We figured out how to do things right by trial and error.”

After networking with other musicians and performing at different venues, Von Hoff said they began to have a fan base that enjoyed their musicality.

“We were honored and encouraged. It was a very nice feeling,” Von Hoff said.

Being in a five-musician ensemble has challenged Von Hoff to become a better musician.

“When you’re out there you have to lay your soul out in front of audience,” Von Hoff said. “If you mess up everyone hears you right away.”

Bill Baxtresser started playing the trumpet in Kindergarten. Baxtresser said his older sister would leave her French trumpet around the house and one day he picked it up and has been playing ever since.

“It came natural to me,” he said. “But I had to work very hard at it. It was 70 percent talent and 30 percent hard work, very hard work.”

Baxtresser is the newest member and has been a part of the quintet for two years. Baxtresser said that being a part of the ensemble allows him to express himself musically in a way that he hadn’t been able to before.

“I love putting my stamp on music. That’s hard to do in other ensembles,” Baxtresser said.

The quintet will be performing five pieces. The pieces range from historic Renaissance music and modern pieces including a piece named, “Sonata for Brass Quintet,” composed by Cheetham’s father, John Cheetham.

The Gaudete Brass Quintet will perform Thursday in the Recital Hall at the Doudna Fine Arts Center at 7:30 p.m.

Zinika Livingston can be reached at zclivingston@eiu.edu or 581-2812.