Have you ever been to a concert and seen a soloist perform super-human feats on their specified instrument while at the time sounding great and making it look so easy without nerves getting in the way?
For many of us who have studied a musical instrument, the idea of performing on stage brings up thoughts of anxiousness, and nervousness.
So many musicians have had the experience of sounding great in the practice room, only to have nerves get in the way on stage, and sabotage what was supposed to be a stellar performance.
This Sunday, October 16th at 2:00pm at Fort Garry Mennonite Fellowship Church, the Manitoba Registered Music Teachers’ Association (MRMTA) will be presenting a workshop called “Performance Preparation: Strategies for Consistency and Confidence.” The lecture will be led by University of Manitoba piano Professor Dr. Darryl Friesen.
This is a course for anyone who has experienced issues with performance preparation and anxiety from being on stage, whether it is a teacher who sees this in their own students or a musician who is struggling with this on a regular basis.
“What I would like to present on, is just some of the things that I regularly do with both my piano students in the studio but also with the musicianship students I teach at University… which would include some practice techniques that they can actually do in the practice room that will help us prepare well for performance,” states Friesen.
There is also a psychological aspect to performing, and Friesen will be addressing those issues as well. He will be taking what he has learned from sports psychology and how that same kind of thinking can influence and help performance as well.
As Friesen explains, “something that sports psychologists and athletes do generally a lot better than musicians do...is that they are way more intentional at being able to take an objective step back and just observe and look at the process. What worked in performance? What worked in the practicing that you though would work in performance…analyse it and don’t take it personally, and stay objective. I feel like… for very obvious reasons musicians find that is really hard to do because our art is so personal to us.”
There will also be lots of time for discussing issues that are particularly applicable to any registrant. “I want it (the lecture) to be as interactive as possible, so we are for sure going to have a good solid chunk for Q and A at the end of the session. I think that is a really, really important thing!”
“Performance Preparation: Strategies for Consistency and Confidence is open to any musician from any discipline. The concepts that Friesen will be discussing will be applicable to any musician. This promises to be an extremely informative and helpful lecture for all those who want more efficient and productive practice sessions; while at the same time producing much more successful results on stage.
This lecture takes place on This Sunday, October 16th at 2:00pm at Fort Garry Mennonite Fellowship Church. You can register through the Manitoba Registered Music Teachers’ Association website or at the door. You can also take in the course via Zoom. The Zoom link will be provided upon payment. The cost for the session is:
MRMTA Members—$10.00
Non-Members—$20.00
Students--$5.00