Professor Esposito

How many years have you been playing?

21

How did you deal with performance anxiety as a young player?

It was more triall by fire and preparation helped. You don’t really realize the awareness and the importance of each concert. Start  to learn how important it is, the background.

How do you handle it now?

Doesn’t get too nervous now just because of the frequency of the performances. Gets anxious sometimes. Gets less nervous with the quality of the audience. Its not that we get nervous about the task at hand. We get nervous about being nervous. Deals with it by accepting it as something normal. Accepting the feelings helps the performance. Don’t fight against them because that creates more struggles.

Do you know of any certain excercises that can help dealing with performance anxiety?

Hasn’t done anything like that. Visualization techniques. Thinks something physical manifestations of the nerves. Tries to work on breathing and pay attention to breathing cycles. Pictures herself walking on the stage and what the audience might look like. Putting music on stage, bowing, presenting herself.

Do you think playing from memory or improv can help performance anxiety?

It certainly can. You always have to be careful why you are doing it. The purpose is important. If you use memory as a tool in your practice so that you really know the practice, it can help. It really depends on the person. Sometimes playing without the music can make a person feel more nervous.