Monthly Meeting Guests
Noa Kagayama
Thursday, Sep. 5, 2024 at 7 PM
Why we cave under pressure (& how not to)
In-Person: Sunlight Studios, 321 W. 44th St., Ste. 202, Studio A, New York City
Online via Zoom: Click to join
Elite athletes have known for decades that physical preparation alone is not enough to perform optimally under pressure. After all, why is it that we can nail even the most difficult passages in the practice room, but fall apart when we’re in front of other people? And why does this happen in some performances, but not others?
Increasingly, musicians too are engaging in more mental skills training - ways of practicing and preparing which can lead to more consistent, inspired, and engaged performances. In this session, we’ll explore two causes of underperforming under pressure, and two strategies to become more pressure-proof.
About Member Events
Member Events take place on the first Thursday of every month, except where noted. The meetings feature special presentations by a wide variety of guitarists, composers, musicologists, and luthiers, followed by open-mic playing time for members. The open mic provides the opportunity to share music and improve performance skills in a supportive environment. To sign up to play, visit our sign-up page (8 minutes maximum per performer). Member Events are free and open to all NYCCGS members and first-time guests.
About Noa Kageyama: Born in Marysville, Ohio, performance psychologist Noa Kageyama is on the faculty at Juilliard and is the performance psychology coach for the New World Symphony. Kageyama has degrees from Oberlin (BA, psychology) and Juilliard (MM, violin performance) and studied with Stephen Clapp, Ronald Copes, Franco Gulli, Paul Kantor, Masao Kawasaki, Roland and Almita Vamos, and Donald Weilerstein before making the leap to psychology. He received his MS and PhD in counseling and counseling psychology from Indiana University.
Kageyama specializes in teaching performing artists how to utilize sports psychology principles to more consistently demonstrate their full abilities under pressure. He has conducted workshops at institutions including Northwestern University, New England Conservatory, Peabody, Eastman, and the U.S. Armed Forces School of Music. He has taught at programs such as the Starling-DeLay Symposium, the Perlman Music Program, and the National Orchestral Institute, and for organizations like the Music Teachers’ National Association and the National Association of Teachers of Singing.
Kageyama has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Musical America, Strings Magazine, Strad, and Lifehacker. He maintains a private coaching practice and writes a performance psychology blog, The Bulletproof Musician, which has more than 100,000 monthly readers.
