Can You Stay Calm with a Famous Conductor Watching Your Every Note? 🫣

A few years ago, one of my clients had what she called her “nightmare concert”…

No, not because she forgot her music.

But because she spotted a well-known conductor sitting in the front row.

After her eyes went wide…

Her heart rate spiked,

Her thoughts scattered…

And halfway through, she was already thinking about how badly she was blowing it.

She told me later that she didn’t even remember playing the last page.

When we started working together, she thought the answer was to practice more, push harder, double down on preparation.

But the truth is, her playing wasn’t the problem.

(Spoiler alert: It rarely is your technique!)

It was her ability to keep her mind steady when the pressure hit.

You see...

When someone important walks in, your brain can register it as a kind of social threat.

It’s an ancient survival response — your body thinks your safety is at stake, so your heart rate climbs, your breathing changes, your muscles tense.

(Don't worry, it’s completely normal. Nothing is wrong with you.)

But when your attention shifts outward — worrying about what they’re thinking, how you look, or what a mistake might “mean” — you’re no longer fully in the moment or in the music.

You’re half here, half in a story your mind is spinning.

That’s why the shift we work on is simple but powerful:

Making music for you first. Enjoying it yourself. Feeling the sound, the phrasing, the expression...

Because when you’re absorbed in the music, the audience feels it too — whether they’re a world-famous conductor or someone hearing you for the first time.

So we trained her to perform for herself first… no matter who was watching.

A few months later, the same conductor was in the audience again.

This time, she noticed him, smiled, and went right back to playing.

She told me afterward “it felt like I was totally in control”.

Imagine walking off stage feeling the same way...

That is a feeling every musician deserves to know.

Have you experienced something like this? Hit reply — I’d love to hear about it ☕️

With warmth and music,

Gökçe 💙