Performance Anxiety? Not GC’s Music Chair, International Presenter Dr. Heather Hunnicutt
Heather Hunnicutt
Heather Hunnicutt, Chair of the GC Music Department, said she was honored earlier this month to make a presentation at the College Music Society International Conference in South Korea – first in Seoul and then in Gyeongjou.
She actually had the thrill of co-presenting with her father – a psychiatrist on the faculty at the University of North Texas Health Science Center – Educational Interventions for Musical Performance Anxiety: Helping Your Students Cope With Stage Fright.
“I have been very blessed as a scholar – my primary research interest is performance anxiety and I’ve spoken at lots of conferences (in Korea, Thailand, France, Hawaii, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Fort Worth),” said Dr. Hunnicutt, who has published four journal articles on various aspects of the topic.
“Lately, I have been collaborating with my father this summer as well as writing some articles together. Our current work is related to using the techniques used by mental health professionals for severe anxiety disorders and adapting them to how music teachers can use them for their students with stage fright. It’s really neat we have a common research interest together.”
No doubt she has practiced some of those techniques in recent years on Georgetown music majors and others who have performed in the fall opera or “Op Shop” (opera workshop) in the spring.
i studied music at georgetown. my music dept chair was wayne johnson. i have always found that the more prepared and excited i was about the performance the better i could do. then it seems my performance anxiety is a plus for me. i would love for you to listen to my quartet at the above site. let me know what you think. i was at georgetown from 71-75. i was the male soloist with a women’s group daniel tilford directed. that was a blast. interesting stuff.