Mitigating Music Performance Anxiety (MPA) Within the Teaching Studio: Theories & Practical Strategies
Wednesday 15th April 2026, 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM (London Time)
Thursday 16th April 2026, 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM (London Time)
Music performance anxiety (MPA) is a debilitating and common form of anxiety affecting student and professional musicians alike, and can shorten performance careers if left untreated. Thus far, treatments for MPA have focused primarily on using psycho-therapeutic and medicinal interventions, both of which must be administered by qualified practitioners with proper education and training in clinical psychology, medicine, or other health disciplines. While numerous treatments exist, the most common treatment for MPA by far is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) with exposure therapy, and while the research in support of CBT + exposure is strong, music students often face valid hurdles preventing them from receiving this type of treatment: lack of access to qualified practitioners trained to use CBT with musicians, lack of time, lack of financial means to afford treatment, and stigma associated with psychotherapy.
In recent years, an alternative model for treating MPA has shown great promise among practitioners - training music teachers to use interventions from evidence-based coaching models aimed to treat MPA, rather than continually referring students with MPA to receive psychotherapy like CBT. Such a treatment model would address many, if not all, of the aforementioned hurdles preventing student musicians from receiving effective MPA treatment. The Voice Study Centre has led the charge in researching such an alternative treatment model, by training singing teachers to achieve competency in using Acceptance and Commitment Coaching (ACC) to directly treat their students’ MPA themselves. Thus far, the results of 10 studies in which a singing teacher was trained to use ACC within their voice studio, or within the classroom, have all shown positive support for such a teacher-led treatment model for MPA.
In this two-part course, you will learn about existing MPA treatments and their level of research support, including ACC. You will also learn several strategies from ACC that can be ethically administered by non-clinical professionals within the voice studio as way to effectively treat students’ MPA.
Dr David Juncos
David Juncos, PsyD, is a clinical psychologist, lecturer, performance coach, author, and music performance researcher based in Philadelphia, PA. He has 20 years of experience in treating a variety of clinical problems, including anxiety, mood, and substance use disorders.
Attend this course for as little as £22 as part of the Voice Professional Training CPD Award Scheme.
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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.
Tuesday 5th May 2026
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Tuesday 12th May 2026
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Tuesday 19th May 2026
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Tuesday 26th May 2026
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Tuesday 2nd June 2026
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Tuesday 9th June 2026
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
(London Time)
Music Theory Fundamentals for Voice Pedagogues
Dr David Cane
Voice pedagogy has advanced significantly in the last decades in relation to knowledge of the vocal apparatus (anatomy and mechanics), acoustics, and performance psychology (to name just a few subfields) – this is a wonderful thing! Nonetheless, musicianship and the foundations of music theory are still relevant to the teaching and coaching of singers and this course aims to empower voice teachers and coaches with skills to support the fundamental musicianship development of their students.
Tuesday 19th May 2026
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
(London Time)
Staging A Coup: History meets science for the coup de la glotte!
Kourtney Austin
Historical vocal pedagogy, voice science, voice health, and performance practice come together in this presentation from Kourtney Austin! The session addresses the historical context for teaching the onset as a fundamental skill, along with a review of a recent publication examining the acoustic effects of different types of onset, and practical studio implementation of onset training. The aforementioned publication is the first known research to objectively measure the acoustic implications of the coup de la glotte, and delineate it from the hard glottal attack.
Thursday 21st May 2026
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
(London Time)
Letting the Text Live: Reading Aloud with Expression!
Louisa Morgan
This 2-hour interactive session is designed to help you make more deliberate, expressive choices in your speaking of the written word. It will involve plenty of practical exploration and will cover tips and techniques for working with the voice to lift the text off the page. Work with me to refine nuance, precision, and expressive range. We’ll explore a variety of text samples to cover a wide range of real-world situations, so you can get a feel for the different styles and approaches. If you want your spoken text to sound purposeful, engaging, and unmistakably yours, this session will invite you to play with some tools to do just that.