Mindfulness and Performance Anxiety for Professionals
Discover a path to peak performance and personal growth
Description
Unlock your true performance potential with this transformative course.
Anxiety before a big presentation at work or before a public event is not an unusual experience but for some people, this anxiety can become very overwhelming and debilitating.
Join international soprano, psychotherapist and performance psychology lecturer Virginia Kerr to learn about the nature of performance anxiety, its causes, symptoms and manifestations. This course will blend mindfulness techniques with practical strategies to help manage anxiety in stressful situations.
Each week will highlight different subjects, such as the Inner Critic, Mental Resilience, Stress, Overwhelm and Boundaries.
Relaxation Techniques and Mindfulness will be explored so that participants will gain the knowledge and the tools necessary to reduce performance anxiety and perform at their best.
Join a supportive community of like-minded professionals and learn to cultivate present-moment awareness, enhance focus, and build resilience, empowering you to thrive in your career.
Tutors
Professor Virginia Kerr, MSc, AGSM, MIACP
A constant on the international stage, Virginia Kerr’s career includes celebrated performances in the world’s leading opera houses and concert halls including the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Rome Opera, Leipzig Opera to name but a few. She is a fine exponent of 20th century music, has given numerous Irish and world premieres and was awarded the Margaret Burke Sheridan medal in recognition of her achievements in the field of classical music.
Alongside a busy international performing career, Virginia Kerr is Professor of Voice at the Royal Irish Academy of Music. She takes a very holistic approach to her teaching of singing and incorporates her training in psychology and body work into her vocal tuition. Virginia has given master classes in the United States of America, Mexico, Georgia, The Far East, France and the United Kingdom and is in great demand to work with choirs throughout the country with a view to improving vocal technique.
She is a regular adjudicator at feiseanna and singing competitions both at home and abroad and really enjoys this work as she finds it a great opportunity to hear up and coming young talent. Virginia is a regular broadcaster on RTE radio and television and has been a guest presenter for Lyric FM on several occasions.
A keen interest in the workings of the psyche of musicians and performers led Virginia to pursue a Master of Science degree in Psychotherapy with an emphasis on Musical Performance Anxiety. Virginia specialises in working with performers who suffer with performance anxiety, delivering workshops such as Wellbeing in the Workplace throughout the country and abroad and she incorporates this work into her performance psychology lecture series at the Royal Irish Academy of Music in addition to working privately at her private psychotherapy practice in Dublin. Her book “Stage Fright”: the value of psychotherapy to classically trained singers experiencing performance anxiety and confidence issues, is available on her website www.virginiakerr.ie
A former chairperson of Opera Theatre Company, Ireland’s precursor to Irish National Opera, Virginia is a founder and joint artistic director of the Festival de Musique de Leran, a summer music festival held in the charming village of Leran in the French Pyrenees. Virginia became chairperson of Sing Ireland in 2022.
Prerequisites
Participants must be 18+ years of age