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Aaron Romm has performed throughout the United States, Mexico, and Europe as a soloist and chamber music specialist. He is the trumpet instructor at State College of Florida, and of course, is a Warburton Performing Artist and Clinician.

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Aaron Hodgson is professor of trumpet at Western University and recently released the album, Inner Voice. He can be found on the web at aaronhodgson.ca

Aaron recently published a blog post concurrent with this podcast titled, Twisted Sounds. Give it a read!

JN: Aaron, welcome to the show. Get us up to speed with what’s going on in your world right now.

AH: The album just came out in May, 2017 and that’s a big project. It’s on Blue Griffin Recordings. I’m excited about it because it has 5 works on it, 3 of which to my knowledge have never been recorded on trumpet. Schumann Romances, something by Brandon Ridenour called Music for Trumpet and Djembe, and Prokofiev’s Five Melodies which was originally written for wordless voice but is adapted by the composer for violin. All these work beautifully with the trumpet and there’s a couple other exciting pieces on it, and I’m just thrilled that it’s out.

JN: We’re talking about being the best performer we can be on this podcast. And to be the best, sometimes you have to go through experiences that quite frankly are bad. So I start each interview with what you consider to be one of your worst performance moments: a time when you expected to perform well, but it didn’t work out.

AH: For me, there’s one in particular that always stands out. It was a competition I played in 2008. I had just gotten my first job at a university and I had just started teaching there. This was the Montreal Symphony competition, one of the major ones held in Canada. Brass players can compete every third year.

I think because I had just gotten this job, I put a lot of unnecessary pressure on myself. I created an expectation of myself that I had to play better than I really could. So I went out there and everything was a disaster from the get go. The first piece was the Hindemith Sonata, and for reasons of showmanship, I decided not to tune on stage. I spent the first page of the piece wondering why do I sound so bad? Finally halfway through the first movement, I figured out that the piano was tuned to A=442, and I was just way under the pitch. As soon as I pushed the slide in, everything sounded better.

So the second piece comes up, and I decide I’m going to use a velvet bag as a mute in the slow movement. I realized right before I started that I had forgot the bag. So I had to go back stage, get the bag, come back on stage. I was playing through the sonata, and I went to the final page turn and the only thing that greeted me was an empty stand. My music had fallen apart back stage and I had to stop playing, go back stage, pick up the music, say to the jurors we’ll be starting at rehearsal number whatever, and we played through the rest of the piece.

In that moment, I was completely mortified. I just wanted to crawl into a hole and never be seen again. The funny thing is, the moment that happened, I completely wrote off the competition. After that, everything went great. I played fantastically for the last piece, and they even gave me a little door prize, even though I didn’t advance to the second round.

So it was an interesting moment for sure, but I learned a lot from it. I learned a lot about the expectations I was putting on myself, because I suddenly had a job that I was being unfair with myself about how I thought I should play, and about how others would perceive me that I had a really unrealistic expectation of how people expected me to sound just because I had this job. I know a lot of professionals, they start working and they feel the same thing. That because they have a job, suddenly they need to be perfect all the time. They stop being forgiving with themselves.

Learning how to overcome that was a big moment for me as a professional. So even though the competition was awash, it was a great moment and I learned a lot from it.

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Tony Plog is an ex-trumpeter turned full-time composer. He’s best known for his Four Sketches for brass quintet as well as Three Miniatures for Tuba and piano.

JN: Tony, welcome to the podcast.

TP: Great to be with you.

JN: Get us up to speed, what is going on in your world right now?

TP: I’m in the last semester teaching at the Norwegian Music Academy. After that, I’m working on putting together an online coaching and teaching system that will start with Skype and move to Zoom or something like that. But basically I’m trying to compose as much as I can.

JN: What made you want to be primarily a composer rather than a performer?

TP: That’s a good one. I’m not exactly sure. When I was in college, I wrote a piece for brass quintet called Four Miniatures. It was less than 4 minutes long, so you get a sense of my maturity as a composer. I just started writing more and more ad I’ve always loved reading about artists and writers. I read a lot of biographies, a lot of histories. I just got into it more and more. As a trumpet player, one thing I always enjoyed was trying to explore the more philosophical side of the trumpet or of music, rather than the technical side.

So in 1989, I was in Berlin to play a couple of Christmas oratorios and a couple of recitals with organ. I had a free night and went to the local opera. They were performing Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet, which is one of my all-time favorite pieces. That was kind of a landmark evening for me, in fact I still have the program from it. One of the things I wrote on the program is, “I have to be a composer.” I knew that even if I fail as a composer, I can say that my profession is the same as Prokofiev. I was that ideal about the idea, and still am. I didn’t retire from the trumpet for another 10-11 years because I needed some financial stability, but that was the night that changed everything for me.

JN: I’ve spoken to a few former instrumentalists who are now composers or conductors. An overall theme from them is that one instrument isn’t enough for them. They want the full spectrum of music. So as a trumpet player in an orchestra, there’s only so much you can do because it’s just one part of many.

TP: One of the great thrills of playing in an orchestra is if you’re playing a Mahler symphony, for example, you come into that final page and there’s such a great feeling. You’re playing pieces that have been played over and over, but the reason they’re played so often is they’re masterpieces. So you’re spending every day in the company of “immortals.” I was lucky enough to do a lot of solo and chamber playing as well, but something I started to realize was that although I tried to have a philosophical approach to the trumpet, the instruennt was more outside myself.

 

One of the things I love about the trumpet is the friends I’ve made playing it around the world. That’s more of an outer benefit of playing music. For me, composing is more me going inside the music. I’m battling and trying to overcome my limitations. Technical, emotional, psychological limitations, what have you. So that’s challenging for me as well.

JN: You already mentioned Prokofiev. Who else has influenced you as a composer?

TP: My first big influence was William Schmidt. He was a LA based composer and publisher. He wrote a huge number of works for brass. At one time, I sat down and realized that I had premiered 15 works of his. So here’s a prolific composer, a wonderful publisher. I worked a lot with his wife, Sharon Davis. She was a pianist so we did a lot of touring together.

In terms of influences after him, probably just about everyone. If you sit in an orchestra, you just soak everything in. So Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Mahler rise to the top for me, but I think I’m influenced by everyone I’ve ever hea...

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Jim Stephenson is a Chicago-based composer whose works have been performed by leading ensembles all over the world, including his Symphony #2, which was recently premiered and recorded by the President’s Own U.S. Marine Band.

JN: Jim, welcome to the podcast!

JS: It’s a pleasure to be here.

JN: Get us up to speed, what’s going on in your world?

JS: You’ve caught me at a whirlwind time. This past week, I was fortunate to have a bass trombone concerto premiered with the St. Louis Symphony, then off to New York for a premiere at Carnegie Hall. Now I’m off to Washington, D.C. where I’ll hear the Marine Band record the Symphony #2.

JN: Not to force you to brag on yourself, but the Marine Band doesn’t just call people out of the blue and ask them to write a major symphony.

JS: I know Jason Fettig. He did a piece of mine a few years back. What I love about him is that he really listens to everything that’s out there. I remember having a conversation with him once and I was telling him about some of my music and he said, “Yeah, I’ve listened to that.” He had been to my site and had listened to just about everything. That’s not something you hear all the time, especially for someone as busy as he is with all the duties they have. So the fact that he came to me and asked to collaborate was pretty cool.

JN: You started as a symphony trumpet player, but you more or less organically grew into a composer. What was the early days like in yoru composing career. What was the process of composing a piece?

JS: I started out as an arranger. I was playing in Naples, FL and I just raised my hand every time someone asked for an arrangement for brass quintet for example. So it turned out well, people seemed to like it. Then I started arranging for the orchestra because Erich Kunzel was the pops conductor. I just got intrigued at the possibilities of what I could create. Different sounds, brass and what not. So it just became a natural progression of arranging other people’s music to trying to write music of my own and arrange them.

In the early days, it was all about discovery. I’ve got nothing to lose, so why not see what I can come up with. It’s always been an excitement about seeing what I can come up with next, so that’s what keeps me going.

I was recently at a recital where 3 pieces of mine were played and one of them was from my early days. Another was from just a couple of years ago. It was interesting to see my creative process coming to life right in front of me. It brought back a lot of fond memories of my roots and how I still try to keep doing it today.

JN: Are you more efficient as a composer today than you were in the early days?

JS: I think the answer is yes because I have to be. I was still a full-time trumpet player, so composing was a side gig. If I needed to take 2 months to write something, I did. Now I have deadlines and I have to stay on task.

JN: Well, let’s talk about the Second Symphony. Was that a deadline imposed by the Marine Band?

JS: There’s essentially a deadline for everything I do, then I just lay it out in my schedule according to those. It can get reather stressful. With the Marine Band, I knew I needed to get something to them by October 1, 2016. They’re like a symphony orchestra. They’re not going to get something in October and then work on it for 2 months before a premiere. They wait until the week of. But they wanted it then, so I started mid to late summer. I think I asked for a two week extension and they said yes, so it all worked out.

JN: How long is it?

JS: It’s about 20 minutes, as they requested. Bands usually want to do other things in their program,

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Rex Richardson is on faculty at Virginia Commonwealth University and is one of the world’s busiest trumpeters, being featured as a guest performer in leading ensembles across the globe.

JN: Rex, welcome to the show.

RR: Thanks, James. Good to connect with you again.

JN: Get us up to speed. What’s going on in your world.

RR: I just finished 4 nights playing at a jazz club in Vienna, and am now in Norway for some masterclasses and performances. Later this month, I’ll be at Ryan Anthony’s event, Cancer Blows in TX.

The event in Vienna was kind of intimidating because many of the previous performers at the venue were on the wall. These are guys that I have the utmost respect for and was really honored to play there.

JN: Fortunately, it was just photos of those people, not the actual people.

RR: Yes, but it feels as though they are there.

JN: You’ve been all over the world, you know performance really well. But I want you to start with a story of a time when you performed and it didn’t go so well. I call this the “worst performance moment.”

RR: I can think of several. Most recently, I was performing the Hummel concerto in E natural on D trumpet. I ordinarily play it on E-flat, so this was a bit out of the ordinary. Long story short, I got to one of the moments in the concerto that is kind of tricky. I’m not exactly sure what happened, but I think I got the fingerings from playing it on an E-flat trumpet confused with what I was doing on the D trumpet. So right in the middle of the piece, there was this one horrible moment.

The thing is, the rest of the performance went really well, and I don’t usually say that about one of my performances. But I’ve got the fingerings confused and I’m trying to find the right note and it’s just not happening. The effect is astoundingly comedic. At least it was to my wife as she heard it in the next room while I replayed it on youtube.

In retrospect, that one moment is funny because it was such an anomaly for myself. One other memory I have is from my college days. I was playing the opening offstage solo from the Lt. Kije Suite. This is not a difficult solo, pretty straightforward. But I was given this part when I was a sophomore at Northwestern and I just slaughtered it. I have no idea why. It wasn’t technically challenging for myself, so it was a bit of a shock. I had trouble coming to terms with why I had played so badly. Then I had to go on stage after that, and I was embarrassed. I had seemingly missed more notes than I hit.

JN: That memory is seared into your mind like a hot iron.

RR: I decided that night I was going to quit the trumpet. I was devastated.

JN: It’s a contrast between the time when you’re a young man and you don’t play that part very well, and then another time years and years later and we’re laughing about it. You can see the difference that experience and time makes in regards to a mistake happening. What do you think is the biggest difference in your mindset between those two stories?

RR: I think a lot of it has to do with how we view our current situation as a performer. If I was prone to have fingering mistakes on stage, or just forget what key I’m playing in, I might have been more uptight about the Hummel. But it was such an anomaly in a performance that otherwise I was fairly happy with. You just say, what cn you do?

But these things happen and the best you can do is dust yourself off and just keep on going.

JN: It’s another example of how experience enabled you to overcome that one mistake and play what you considered a really good performance.

RR: I learned something back when I studied with Chris Gekker at the Aspen Music Festival when I was a young boy. He told me a story about Bud Herseth, who’s famous for his consistency.

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Phil Snedecor is author of Lyrical Etudes for Trumpet (vol. 1 and 2) and Low Etudes for Tuba. He’s on faculty at the Hartt School of Music in Hartford, CT and is the leader of the Washington Symphonic Brass.

JN: Phil, thanks for being on the podcast. Get us up to speed with what’s going on in your world.

PS: Pretty insane as usual. Finishing up the semester at the Hartt School. Lots of recitals going on. I’m also playing a lot and arranging some things for the ITG conference where I’m a featured performer, so lots going on.

JN: We were talking before starting this podcast recording about how stage fright is a problem for lots of people, and not so much for others. Where do you fit into that spectrum?

PS: What I said was that it doesn’t seem to be a problem. It’s just that people deal with their nerves differently. The main thing people need to realize is that everyone is nervous. And I don’t know if I can say this on your podcast, but when I was at Tanglewood as a student, Leonard Bernstein was there and one of his mantras was, “If you’re not nervous, you’re an a-hole.” What he meant by that is if you’re not nervous, you don’t have nervous energy, you don’t care to go out there and do your very best. Bernstein turned his nervous energy into positive music making.

He was kind of a nervous guy. Years ago, when Aaron Copland had his 70thbirthday, the student orchestra was playing Copland’s Outdoor Overtureand his 3rd Symphony with Bernstein conducting. Of course Copland was in the audience. I was actually backstage standing next to Bernstein during the Overture because I didn’t play in it, and he wasn’t conducting. So Bernstein is backstage and was a ball of energy and I realized it was nervous energy. He’s about to go out and conduct for one of his heroes. He didn’t need to be nervous, but he had this energy that if nothing else was a heightened energy.

I realized, this man is nervous. And of course, he’s saying all week, if you’re not nervous you’re an a-hole. So I realized it’s okay to be nervous so let’s just turn it into something positive. It was a wonderful learning experience just to see him there backstage.

JN: That’s kind of a recurring theme I’ve heard in the short history of this podcast. Everyone is nervous, it’s just a matter of whether you’ll use that nervous energy for your betterment or your detriment. When you get right down to it, this podcast is about taking that energy that comes from being nervous to make you a better performer.

So switching gears, let’s talk about what you consider to be one of your worst performance moments.

PS: There are so many stories like that. I never play what I think is a perfect performance. My first experience of what you describe as a “bad” performance moment was in junior high school for a regional band audition. I had practiced my tail off for it, I was ready. I walked into it, played the prepared piece, played my scales and did great. Then they said, now for the sight reading. Up to this point, I had never thought about sight reading, no one told me there was sight reading on the audition. I was totally caught with my pants down. It was awful.

In the end, I didn’t even get into the band because the sight reading was so deplorable. From the first note, you could tell I was nervous. What got me was I wasn’t prepared. A lesson I took from that was be prepared for everything. Ask the right questions, even if your teacher doesn’t tell you the right things. Find things out on your own.

Later in my life, this time as a member of the Dallas Brass, I was having chop issues. Just out of Eastman and I was going back and forth between being a star trumpet wise and a complete imbecile. One of the things that I believe makes me a great teacher is that I’ve been through just about every wrong thing you can do on the trumpet.

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Larry Meregillano is a Bach artist/clinician. He started his professional career playing in big bands in San Diego

in the early 1970’s. In 1976, he was hired to play in Tom Ranier’s Show band at Disneyland.

A year later, Mr. Meregillano joined the gospel group Truth and soon after went on to perform and tour with The Bill Gaither Trio. While traveling and recording with The Bill Gaither Trio, he also recorded with Sandi Patti, David T, Clydsdale, Ron Huff, Don Marsh and many others.

In 1980, Larry returned to California and became the lead trumpet player

for the world-famous Disneyland Band. In the late 1980’s, Larry was hired to play in the PTL Television Orchestra with Jim and Tammy Faye Baker. From there he joined Princess Cruise lines as Musical Director.

After many years, Mr. Meregillano moved to Orlando, Florida, where he performed with many bands at Walt Disney World, MGM Studios, Epcot Center, Universal Studios and Pleasure Island. He has also been the Musical Director and performer for many cruise lines including the world-famous Queen Elizabeth 2.

Larry has toured with the Temptations and The Four Tops, and has been a sideman for Rosemary Clooney, Joe Williams, Jack Jones, Bob Hope, Celia Cruz, Frankie Avalon and many, many others. Mr. Meregillano has recorded with many artists including Hubert Laws, Latoya Jackson, and Rick Dees.

Mr. Meregillano can often be seen playing with The Tom Kubis GWC Big Band and is a busy freelance musician playing recording dates, theater and stage shows in the Los Angeles area and around the country.

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JN: This podcast is about the psychology of peak musical performance. And in order to talk about performing at our best, sometimes we need to talk about times when we weren’t at our best. So can you tell us a story of a time when you expected to play well but it didn’t work out as you thought it would? And then how you dealt with it.

LM: When I was 19 years old, I was a featured soloist in my father’s church. I had decided to change my mouthpiece just a couple of days before. So there’s always a learning curve when playing a new mouthpiece, and when I got up to play the solo, I couldn’t make it halfway through. There were a few hundred people there. My lips just collapsed.

So how did I deal with it? For all the hours and hours of practice I had put in to that point, I felt as though my trumpet had let me down, that I had let myself down. So I slammed my trumpet down in the case, marched out of the church and walked the 5 miles home. I was so upset (laughing). Today, I deal with things like that a little differently. But that was progbably the worst moment of my young career. I was so humiliated and so let down.

The problem with the trumpet is no matter how good a musician we are, if the physical elelments are not happening, we simply can’t get the music out of our bodies. No matter how much we study, how much we know the style, intonation, how music should flow. If we don’t have the chops to produce the tone, we are nothing. That’s why trumpet players are notorious for calling themselves slaves to the instrument. WE always have to practice every day, certain rudimental aspects of playing. Otherwise we could very easily make a fool of ourselves, no matter how high up the ladder we might be.

JN: What was the difference between your old and new mouthpiece in that story?

LM: I think I was playing a Bill Chase Jet Tone. Remember this was the 1970’s. Bill Chase was all the rage and I wanted to sound just like him. So ultimately, I just didn’t have enough time to make the adjustment physically in that particular case.

JN: Not everyone listening to this is a trumpet player, so not everyone knows that the slightest chance in any part of t...

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Dr. John Bryant is NEWLY appointed Artist Affiliate and Professor of Trumpet at Reinhardt University. He is 2nd trumpet of both the Savannah Philharmonic and the Atlanta Pops Orchestra as well as Principal Solo Cornet of the Georgia Brass Band. He teaches a private studio in his home in Atlanta where he lives with his wife, Mary Beth.

Worst performance moment: Was featured soloist at a music camp. Was ill, and taught all day. The performance didn't go well, and didn't play for 4 weeks.

The "I've Got This" moment: A few weeks later, played principal trumpet for Tchaikovsky 6th Symphony and killed it.

How John stays "in the zone": Stretches, lacrosse balls, Don Greene's work.

The Hot Seat

JN: It’s 5 minutes before you go on stage for an important performance… What are you doing?JB: If it’s an orchestra show, I have a routine. Once the suit goes on, I drink water, make sure I have everything I need, mutes, valve oil, etc. I stand back stage, play a few flow studies, then walk on stage, get my music in order. I don’t play anything. I just sit there and breathe.For a solo performance, I do a bit more. I love Tony Robbins’ idea of setting a mantra and pumping yourself up. Say it a thousand times. Find those three key words you want to define your performance. I think “beautiful sound,” “unstoppable” “divine.” I repeat that over and over. It repeats in my head and it’s pretty effective in getting myself in the right frame of mind.

JN: What’s the best performance-related advice you've ever received?

JB: We’ve all seen Aladdin. There’s a scene where Aladdin is about to go on a date with Jasmine and the genie turns into a bee and says, “Beeee Yourself!” I think that’s the best performance advice I’ve ever received. I can idolize certain players, but it’s not me. I have to do my own thing. I’m not going to put the pressure of being someone I’m not on myself. Just be yourself.

JN: Can you share one tip for our listeners to help deal with stage fright? (Physical, mental, etc.)

Just do it. When I was a younger kid, I didn’t get stage fright. I never had a bad performance. Then I had my first bad performance and it took me awhile to overcome it. You get into a rut because you think, “What if that happens again?” I think going through the motions and putting yourself out there. Start small. Play for anyone and everyone. Go outside and play on a street corner and play tunes. Get out some method books. Play some tunes that other people know. They’re not looking for you to make mistakes. The obstacles are what you see when you take your mind off the goal. So stop looking at the obstacles. Make beautiful music. When I’m getting ready for auditions, my wife will put me on the spot and have me play the excerpts when we have house guests. This is part of the Don Greene idea. Be prepared. It could happen any time. Just play for people. The more you do it, the less it’s scary.

JN: Imagine you’re on stage. It’s the end of the performance and the audience is on its feet, applauding. They don’t want any more and they don’t want any less. Everything is perfect. What have you just done? Give details: Venue, repertoire, band mates, etc. Get Creative!!!

JB: The best I can say is I left it all out there. I swung for the fences and hit it out. One particular performance I remember is I played Windows for trumpet and organ by Peter Ebbens. It gets to the very end and there’s a high C at the very end. So I went for it and I pasted it to the back of that church. Everyone went nuts! I didn’t let the fact I had been playing for the last hour and a half prevent me from going for it. I just made beautiful music. I took chances and they all worked out. I didn’t think, “What if I mess up?

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PACK YOUR A-GAME: HOW TO MAINTAIN PEAK PERFORMANCE AS A TRAVELING MUSICIAN

-by Paul Baron

I have been asked many times in clinics, masterclasses, lessons, and by colleagues as well, how to maintain peak performance on the road. Traveling for gigs poses a number of different challenges with many variables involved that we wouldn't necessarily encounter while working at home.

First of all, there is the obvious... travel. This often requires many hours on planes and busses and in itself can be very fatiguing. Very often I play a show late into the evening and because of the distance to the next city and venue, will be up for travel four hours later. Many times this is unavoidable so I make sure to stay hydrated at all times. The other thing I do is carry headphones and ear plugs to try and get cat naps on the plane or bus. Even getting a little dozing off time can be refreshing so being able to cut out some of the exterior noises, young kids crying or screaming, or loud cast members who never stop "performing", helps to refresh on long travel days. This also helps me recover more quickly once I've arrived at the destination.

We can learn a lot about maintaining physical performance from athletes. It's obvious that after a strenuous athletic endeavor, being it a training session or event, an athlete needs rest to recover. This is no less the case for musicians, especially a high energy trumpet gig. Lactic acid, as well as extra blood, builds up in our lips as a way of protecting the tissue, so rest is a big factor in bringing down the swelling and washing away the lactic acid and excess blood. Hydrating helps with this as well.

I always do a warm-up starting with a clean slate everyday. What I mean by this is that I make sure to start off gentle and listen to my body as it gives me signals with how to progress. Sometimes I pick up the horn and things feel pretty fresh right off the start. I am able to progress easily through my warm-up and feel ready to perform after only five minutes. Other days, especially if the travel schedule is tiring and I've had a heavy playing schedule the day before, my warm-up can take on a different role.

For those times I find it even more important to listen to the signs my body is sending to start even more gentle. If travel and schedule allows, I prefer to do a gentle warm-up in the later morning so as to start the healing process early in the day. Since I don't have any time constraints to hurry through the warm-up to get ready for the gig, I allow myself whatever time I feel is necessary to get my chops back to square one. Often this involves lip flapping alternating with very soft "whisper tones".

What I'm trying to do is get the lips vibrating as gently and easily as possible with the smallest trickle of air. Sometimes the lips just aren't ready to vibrate. Rather than force them by blowing more air, I stop and flutter my lips some more, and then attempt the same very soft volume again. We may have all experienced stiff chops and probably also experienced having to blow harder to force the lips to vibrate.

With enough air we can force almost the stiffest of chops to vibrate but this isn't an efficient use of air and the effort to sound ratio is not very good. Playing in this way, fatigue will set in much faster, volume, range, sound and intonation, will all suffer, and we may even do irreparable damage. I consider this warm-up time as physical therapy (PT) and am more concentrated on the feeling than the sound at this point. If I am able to do PT and damage control to get my lips feeling and vibrating easily without much effort, I know the gig will go much better as well.

Once things are back to working well, or at least as good as they're going to get for the day, I can move on into a practice session,

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Adam Rapa is one of the world's foremost jazz trumpet players. He tours extensively around the world thrilling audiences with his impeccable technique and showmanship.

WORST PERFORMANCE MOMENT:

In a way, I always feel like a failure. There are various lenses by which we can look at an experience. From some points of view, I’m always failing. And in others, I’m always succeeding. It’s really how we choose to look at it, whether we’re a success or a failure.

HOW ADAM DEFINES FAILURE:

It has more to do with my mindset than missing notes or "falling apart" on stage. If I don't bring my A-game, I'm a failure, even if the audience loves it.

HOW ADAM STAYS "IN THE ZONE":

It’s easy to do that when I consider it’s not just about the music, not just about the dotting I’s and crossing T’s. It’s also a social experience. If we’re there to have a good time and to provide a good time for the audience, then who am I to call that a failure?

THE HOT SEAT

JN: It’s 5 minutes before you go on stage for an important performance… What are you doing?AR: It varies. In most cases, I’m probably back stage laughing with the other people I’m performing with. It’s an ice way to prepare. Other times, if I feel like what I’m about to do is compete in the Trumpet Olympics, so to speak, then I like to be alone. I’m not taking selfies backstage with other musicians. I’d rather be in a meditative state, bringing myself down into a deeper state of consciousness so I can walk onto the stage already “in the zone.” It really depends on who I’m with and the nature of what I’m about to perform.JN: What’s the best performance-related advice you've ever received?AR: Two answers. One is, “Get out there and give ‘em everything you’ve got.” Don’t be emotionally stingy, don’t hold back. Don’t let your fear get in the way of delivering your truth.Two, “It’s not about you.” A lot of people need to hear this more often as it relates to performing. It involves so much work with the ego. Some of us do a better job than others of keeping the ego in check to make sure it exists, it’s healthy and being fed but also kept on a leash. Being made aware of how little it’s actually needed in circumstances in which you’re performing. To know it’s not about you, it’s about the audience, is of the utmost importance. Otherwise, it can turn into a big strange masturbation thing when really it’s about making love. In order for it to be an act of making love with an audience, you have to know it’s not about you.JN: Can you share one tip for our listeners to help deal with stage fright? (Physical, mental, etc.)

AR: I’m not a good person to talk with about stage fright because I don’t get stage fright. What I do experience are bursts of adrenaline when I walk on stage. If you have a healthy mental approach, then it doesn’t become stage firght. But if you have an unhealthy mental approach, and you combine that with the adrenaline rush of walking on stage, ready to exhibit yourself, then it can become something quite scary and debilitating. But I’m not the best person to ask how to alleviate the emotional triggers we know as “stage fright.” You try your best, prepare the best you can, you go on stage and do your best with an open heart and with the intention of making people feel good and whatever comes out is what comes out. If people like it, great. If not, your license as a performer won’t be revoked. You’ll get another chance. There’s not much you can do other than try your best.

One tip I could offer is regardless of whether you’re experiencing something like stage fright, or what your ego is shouting you in the moment, it’s really important to make sure it doesn’t affect your brething, or the way you use your body. Many times when people are nonchalant, in a practice room, etc. They’re performing with ease.