CJ Replay: Stage Fright

   “Stage fright is a negative experience afflicting anyone appearing before a live audience, whether he be a public speaker or performing artist. Musicians, for whom performing is essential, are particularly prone to stage fright, andyet it is a subject rarely broached in either the education of the musician or in the vast literature written about  performing music.”

   “Any musician suffering from stage fright when performing alone notices a decrease of anxiety when performing with a group. Furthermore, the intensity of his stage fright may depend on the type of audience; the size of the crowd; and, if he is performing in a group, the number and ability of his colleagues.”

   “While heretofore stage fright has been described as a negative phenomenon destructive to the purposes of the performer, it can also enhance his performance by increasing his emotional intensity, communicative abilities, and powers of concentration.  Indeed, stage fright at manageable levels is essential to the creative process. Moderate levels of anxiety provide the energy which sparks the artistic communication of emotions through which performer and audience finally can achieve a moment of unification.”

 

(Exerpted from the Choral Journal Article “Musician’s Stage Fright: Analysis and Remedy,” by Jonathan Kahn.)