Emotions in Concert : Performers' Experienced Emotions on Stage

Abstract

Music is often said to be expressive of emotions. Surprisingly, not much is known about the role of performers’ emotions while performing. Do musicians feel the musical emotions when expressing them? Or has expressive playing nothing to do with the emotional experiences of the performer? To investigate performers’ perspectives on the role of emotions in performance, we conducted qualitative in-depth interviews with nineteen musicians teaching or studying at a European conservatoire. In the interviews, musicians were first asked to de-scribe a recent performance experience in as much detail as possible, then to make a visual representation of their experiences on stage, and finally, to answer some general questions about the role of emotions in performance. Qualitative Thematic Analysis of the interview transcripts revealed a difference between performance related emotions and emotions related to the music. In addition, a difference was found between emotional and expressive playing. To allow the music to be expressive of emotions, performers seem to feel the musical emotions to some extent, while they make sure to have the technical ability to express them on their instrument, and stay in control of their playing.