4/6/2025
7:00 PM - 8:30 PM Eastern

Workshop
Online Event

Taming the Tiger - How to soothe your nervous system in the face of performance anxiety

Sweaty palms, shaky fingers, reduced air flow and phrasing, or in general, a feeling of simply not being able to access your usual playing skills, ease and joy, or technical level - these are just some of the examples of how our nervous system can wreak havoc on our music making when we find ourselves in a performance situation. Read “performance situation” here as wide as you can possibly define it - it can encompass everything from performing in front of a large sold-out public concert hall, to playing in front of your peers at a local chapter recital, to playing for your teacher in a private lesson. Being affected by nerves in a performance situation is very common among musicians of all skill levels, from the beginning player to the most seasoned professional performer. This workshop aims to open the conversation around some of the resources that are available to us to help come to terms with, anticipate, and actively help soothe our own nervous system’s reaction in high pressure situations. From practical tips on how to prepare for an upcoming performance, to more general ideas of how to embrace and support our own nervous system, when we want to pursue musical performance situations in our lives, this is a conversation between the workshop participants and the presenter.

Annette Bauer has been playing and performing on the recorder since she was five years old. In addition to her ample background as a freelance performer in the early music world, she has also worked as a musician with TOTEM, a touring Cirque du Soleil show, from 2012-2020. During this time she completed over 2300 performances on three continents, which gave her plenty of opportunities to observe and get to know her own nervous system in musical performance situations, and to attempt to befriend and tame her own "inner tiger".

Setting: Live Virtual
Online Meeting

Mike Richart

NAVRS Workshops are for members only.

Cost: NAVRS Membership is $20 per year and each workshop is $15.

Please reach out with any questions.

• https://www.navrs.org

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4/6/2025

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