It’s not a virus! Reconceptualizing and De-pathologizing Music Performance Anxiety
Thursday 19th February 2026, 8:30 AM - 10:30 AM (London Time)
Performance Anxiety is one of the most widespread and debilitating challenges facing musicians across all ages, nationalities and musical genres. It affects musicians both on and off the stage, impacting performance quality and enjoyment, health and wellbeing, relationships, identity and self-worth. At its most severe, performance anxiety can threaten, or even end, studies and careers. Despite decades of research and the development of numerous interventions, we do not yet have an established way of supporting performers experiencing performance anxiety.
Aimed at performers, teachers, researchers and students, this presentation will first summarise the current state of play in performance anxiety research, through discussing key issues including performance anxiety’s definition, assessment, impact and management. We will then explore alternative ways to think about performance anxiety, drawing on new research outside of performance psychology, my recent autoethnographic study exploring the intersection between my mindfulness and performance practices, and the much-loved children’s classic ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt’.
Lastly, we will discuss the theoretical and practical implications of de-pathologising and reconceptualising performance anxiety including strategies to support performers in the practice room and on stage. This session will provide insight into practical approaches for musicians experiencing performance anxiety based on empirical research.
🏷️ Price £30 (UK VAT inclusive)
🎥 Recording automatically sent to all who book (even if you cannot attend live)
▶️ Rewatch as many times as you like
📜 Certificate of attendance available
Rebecca Herman
After training as a cellist at the Royal Academy of Music, Rebecca Herman performed all over the world with ensembles including the Philharmonia, BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Britten Sinfonia, the Irish Chamber Orchestra, Aurora Orchestra, London Sinfonietta, and English National Opera. In 2017, Rebecca stopped performing due to debilitating stage fright and went back into education to find answers. After completing an MSc in Performance Science in 2018, Rebecca won an LAHP award to pursue doctoral research at the RCM’s Centre for Performance Science.
Attend this course for as little as £22 as part of the Voice Professional Training CPD Award Scheme.
Learn MoreSorry, this is an archived short course...
We have plenty of upcoming short courses coming soon. See details of some of them below or look at the full list of short courses.
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1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
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This six-week course is an opportunity to learn about both Received Pronunciation and Standard Southern British English. Rather than a course in learning how to speak RP/SSBE (there are many brilliant available courses for this already), this course is about learning how to coach it.
Tuesday 17th March 2026
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
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The Use of Vibrato in Belt and Legit Styles of Singing in Professional Female Musical Theatre Performers
Dr. Alyssa Becker
Shaped by the popular music of its time, musical theatre blends storytelling with an ever-evolving range of vocal styles—from classical legit singing to jazz, hip-hop, and powerhouse belting. Despite its importance, much of what we understand about vibrato comes from laboratory-based studies that strip singing of its musical, stylistic, and performance context. Join Dr Alyssa Becker as she connects current research with real-world pedagogy, revealing how elite musical theatre performers strategically use vibrato to shape style and storytelling, and showing how these insights can be applied in the voice studio to train stylistic flexibility and control!
Wednesday 18th March 2026
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
(London Time)
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Ruth Williams Hennessy
Are you a singer or speaker struggling with stubborn jaw tension that just won't quit? Even with elite training, the "stuck" jaw is often a symptom of a surprising culprit: your feet! Join Ruth Hennessy in this interactive workshop where she bridges the gap between podiatry and phonation, moving beyond "temporary fixes" to address the physical misalignments that bottleneck your performance.