Music and Nature with
Shelley Holland-Moritz
The Holistic Musicianship Podcast Episode 4
In today’s episode concert violist Shelley Holland-Moritz and I explore music and its connection to nature, working with perfectionism in a healthy way, and tapping into the deeper reasons for why we play music.
We also speak about holistically working through performance anxiety and the prevalent use of beta blockers when performing in the professional musician community.
"Yes, I don't want to make mistakes but I'm a musician for a reason...and the reason isn't being perfect!”
-Shelley Holland-Moritz
Selected Takeaways:
We’re trained as musicians to be hyperfocused on every imperfection so we need to practice just letting go also - otherwise when we are performing we won’t be able to turn that hypercritical voice off
When playing, explore letting your body move and flow into the current of the music
Taking time to connect with nature can connect you more deeply to music
Remember it’s called “playing” music, not “working” music
Imagine a sign in your practice room that says “experimental laboratory”
For ideal practice - pinpoint the difficulties and practice slowly. Also ask yourself what you need to give to yourself rather than what you’re supposed to do
When you start getting perfectionistic or anxious, see if there is an image or memory that can help you ground back into why you’re doing this in the first place
About Shelley:
A native of Michigan, Shelley started playing viola at age 11. She was awarded a full scholarship to the Interlochen Arts Academy, and earned Bachelor and Master of Music degrees at the Juilliard School as a scholarship student of William Lincer.
She has enjoyed a career as a member of several NY orchestras, among them The American Symphony, Opera Orchestra of New York, the Stamford Symphony, Eos Chamber Orchestra, and Voices of Ascension. She has performed at many summer festivals, including The Bard Festival, OK Mozart, and Mostly Mozart. She also has been a member of several Broadway shows.
Shelley has spent the last two summers performing at Schloss Weinberg, a 13th century castle in Austria for the International Chamber Music FEST.
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