Are You a Genius?
In the movie Genius, while mulling over his comments on a manuscript by Thomas Wolfe, editor Maxwell Perkins (Max), ponders, “do my edits make his writing better or just different?” As we learn in the movie, Max, who worked closely with F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest...
Count Down: Managing Stage Fright
It is still November, but to me it almost feels almost like New Years Eve. I can imagine the Ball dropping at Times Square in New York at the stroke of midnight on Jan. 31. I am counting down now ……to November 30. The words of the song “Something’s Coming”...
Kermit the Frog Manages Stage Fright
His voice was raspy and his speech was tentative on the phone when he called to inquire about meeting with me. He sounded anxious as he explained that when he sang in public he warbled and croaked. He said he felt nervous, depressed and blue. He identified...
Back to School Anxiety and Performance Anxiety
I overheard the following conversations recently: Two teens are talking in an ice cream shop: Teen1: I got just the class schedule I wanted for next year but now I hear they are making changes, and I worry that I am going to have my classes mixed up. I won’t be with...
Lost In Performance
Brilliant Chinese pianist Yundi (Li Yundi), youngest winner of the International Chopin Piano Competition in 2000, had a devastating evening according to Korean music critic Ilbum Chang after attending his October 30th concert at the Seoul Arts Center. Yundi got lost...
I Spent The Night With Beethoven
I want to share something very personal. I spent the night with Beethoven. I felt immersed, involved, caressed by sound, energized, understood…………. I was absorbed deep within my private emotional orbit of pleasure, poignancy, and memory. I was oblivious to the world...
Five Golden Rings
I will never forget my first memory slip. I was six years old. It occurred in my piano teacher’s studio. I had composed several short compositions and was recording them. This is what I remember. I lived in New York until I was 4 years old. My parents gave me a little...
Is There a “Cure” for Stage Fright? Part I
Harold was the Executive Director of a philanthropic organization. Anita was a professor. Carol was a writer. Oliver was a musical performer. Bill was an elite athlete. Although they had never heard of nor met one another, they shared something in common. Each person...