Interesting article via The Strad titled Let’s acknowledge that not all musicians are natural performers. “Performing for large audiences may seem inevitable for those who choose to pursue music as a career, but is this always the key to fulfilling our artistic potential, asks Toby Deller.” I was most interested in this excerpt about the performance environment and how well suited it is to/for the musician.
But can we expect musicians always to respond positively to the artificial performance environments designed for them? Might not their discomfort stem from a mismatch between them and the type of performance environment? We would not think to blame a lutenist because their instrument seems out of place in a big auditorium (although we might question why they agreed to play in such a place).
Instead we would create more appropriate settings for that delicate instrument. Likewise our industry should help artists who have something to say gain access to the kind of environments that suit them and not only to those that threaten them.
Fascinating and important article, especially because performing and practicing often require very different mindsets.