Reflecting and Analyzing Your Performance

After this Sunday's recital I thought it would be pertinent to write about what we can do as performers to better prepare us for the next performance. I hope you can learn from, relate, and share the ideas given!

1. Think Constructively: With the anxiety of practicing for a recital comes a lot of nitpicking and negative criticism. It's good to pick apart the poorer parts of your performance, but always do this with the intent to better yourself. It does no good to make yourself feel bad for messing up without any desire to get better!

2. Record yourself: Always record your performances so you can look back and analyze. You may also catch yourself in a bad posture, or having any other nervous tendencies.

3. Bow: Don't forget to bow! Many younger students will forget, which is ok, but it's best to get into this habit early.

4. Don't rustle your program: At least on two occasions my attention was drawn to a person rustling their program and/or music during another person's performance. Quiet is key to an artists performance, try your best to not make noise! If you need to fold something, it can wait until the performance is done.

5. Bring your music: This may seem obvious, but some students forgot their music! Even if it's memorized, still bring your music for your accompanist; you also may want to use it/look at it last minute in case you're nervous.

6. Arrive early: Many students took advantage of arriving early and performed their pieces on the beautiful Fazioli concert grand piano. Some students were even able to run their piece multiple times. Playing on a piano different than yours, especially a nine foot (at least) concert grand, can feel very foreign the first few times. The more warmup time you have on the instrument you're playing, the more comfortable you will be.

7. Dress: While the recitals we put on have a loose dress code, it behooves oneself to dress the part of a performing artist. A professor of mine was known to say "You can never be overdressed for a recital", and I must say I agree. Take pride in the music you've prepared and look your best. And as always, remember to have fun!