Coping with the pressures of returning to work – with Amy Littlewood

Returning to work during a Pandemic can be daunting, how do we deal with the pressures that this creates?  Come and hear from Amy Littlewood, violinist and performance mentor, about how best to prepare yourself mentally for a return to work in these extraordinary times.  This session will focus on the impact of Covid on orchestral players, how things may be different, how to gain confidence and what you can do to understand and relieve stresses and anxiety.  As this is a webinar we won’t be able to see you but you will be able to ask questions and discuss with other participants, should you choose to, otherwise feel free to just watch, or listen.  A playback will also be available after the webinar has finished.

What is performance anxiety and why does it manifest?

Possible treatment options, covering how they work for different people

Returning to work whilst Covid still exists and the stress this creates

How to deal with the pressure of playing socially distanced and a changed environment

Run on our Crowdcast webinar platform, this event is for both freelance and contract orchestral players who are MU members.

Ask your question in advance of the session by using the ‘Ask a Question’ button on the Crowdcast platform after registering.

If you have any access requirements you would like to discuss please email orchestral@themu.org.

Amy studied violin at the Birmingham Conservatoire and completed her studies on a fellowship course with the Hepplewhite Piano Trio. Amy is Associate 2nd violin with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Principal 2nd violin with Orchestra of the Swan and freelances with orchestras across the UK. She is a founding member of the Hepplewhite Piano Trio which has performed extensively across the UK for chamber music societies and festivals and attended the prestigious IMS Prussia Cove.

 Whilst at music college, Amy became particularly interested in the area of performance psychology. Noticing a negative shift in her mind, from being in the practice room, to being on stage, she realised that in order to perform as she wanted, a lot of her preparation needed to happen mentally. If her mind was not in the right place, or preparation had only taken place technically and not mentally, then her performance was often affected. The combination of technical and mental preparation, is the key to a successful performance. It is an area that is often not spoken about within the music industry, however, its parallel in sport is of great importance - being spoken about and explored in great depth! This inspired Amy to start her research into this area and obtain a qualification in Counselling and Psychotherapy with a bias towards its application to music performance.

 Amy feels that there are many people that can benefit from this work, whether to help particular problems such as interfering nerves, or to generally enhance performance.

Coping with the Pressures of Returning to Work - Orchestras Section