Adrian Griffin is principal trumpet with the Monterrey Symphony Orchestra. He's also the author of Buzz to Brilliance.

JN: This podcast all about peak musical performance. And in order to reach the peak, you have to go through a few valleys. So let's start out with what you consider to be your worst moment as a performer.

AG: When I was new here in Mexico, we were playing a tune that is equivalent to the national Anthem in Mexico, called Juapango. It's programmed three quarters of the way through the program. The concert is going fine, I'm feeling a little tired but nothing unusual.

Juapango is famous for a trumpet and trombone duel in the middle of the piece. I've played it many times, but I'm still relatively new to the orchestra. So the trombone player does his thing, then I come in and it's going great. But then I turn the page and I realize that the next 3-4 pages are out of order.

I'm freaking out. I'm using the few measures of rest frantically looking for my music. I think I know it from memory, but I'm not willing to test it out in this moment. So nothing happens. The trombone player finishes his solo, it's my turn to come in and there's nothing. Trombone has his solo, and I'm still looking for my music.

Long story short is I played about a third of that trumpet solo. It was a very humbling moment. Let's just say it was not pleasant to be backstage after the concert.

JN: Has anything like this happened since then?

AG: No. I make it a habit to show up to the hall an hour and a half early when there's a concert. First thing I do is go to my stand and make sure all the music there and in order. I make sure everyone knows to to mess with my music. That's basically my ritual for every concert.

JN: Rex Richardson told a story of how he made a mistake recently on a solo concerto, as well as early in his career how he messed up a solo. The difference being that experience taught him that mistakes happen, and life goes on. So if something like this were to happen to you today years later, what would your reaction be?

AG: Well, it's not quite accurate to call a story like that "traumatic." I suppose it can be if it happens more than once. It's just as much a habit for me as is brushing my teeth, combing my hair, etc. So if if something were to happen, it would be something beyond my control. The first time it happened, it was my fault. I just assumed that everything was in order.

Now I don't take any assumptions. As much as possible, I take my human error out of the equation. So if something happens, I know that I did everything I could to make sure it wouldn't happen.

JN: So many actions we take are reactions to stupidity from our youth.

AG: Absolutely!

JN: Let's talk about a moment when you felt like you could do no wrong. What does that feel like?

AG: We were playing a music festival and had just finished Tchaikovsky's 5th Symphony. Everything felt great. The orchestra was functioning like a high-end Ferrari. At the end of the concert, the audience was happy, the orchestra members were happy. The thing I felt the most was, "Mission accomplished." But not from a personal point of view, as in my own performance on the trumpet. It was from a musical point of view, as in, when this piece of music is done correctly, at the level Tchaikovsky wrote and intended to be performed, it will incite the reaction as such.

I've played Tchaik 5 many times and sometimes there are crickets after, sometimes there are rave reviews, and sometimes somewhere in between. But trumpet players love that symphony, and when that genius' work is done correctly, it has no way but to incite enthusiasm in the audience. And that moment it was, we did this.