What Recitals Are Really About

Performance anxiety, mistakes, adrenaline, comparison, pressure… if you’ve ever performed music, chances are you’ve experienced at least one of these.In this solo episode of On Key, I’m talking about the emotional side of performance and what recitals really teach us beyond just music. I share personal stories — including a recital where I completely blanked in the middle of a song and couldn’t recover — and how experiences like that shaped me not only as a musician, but as a teacher.We talk about:Why performance skills are different from practice skillsHow adrenaline affects memory and focusWhy even incredible musicians still make mistakesLearning how to recover and keep goingGrounding techniques and positive self-talk before performancesFocusing on storytelling instead of perfectionWhy comparison hurts more than it helpsHow parents and teachers can encourage students after performancesReframing nerves and fear of judgmentOne of the biggest lessons music has taught me is this: resilience matters more than perfection.Whether you’re a student, performer, teacher, parent, or someone who simply struggles with pressure and self-doubt, I hope this episode encourages you to keep showing up — imperfectly and courageously.Because sometimes the most important thing a performance teaches us is that we can survive being imperfect.