Mindfulness in Performance

I remember one of my college mentors describing a performance she gave as a young singer with a big band: at the end, she wasn’t sure how it went, because she was so focused on the moment-to-moment music-making that she hadn’t been able to create memories. It took effusive praise from audience members for her to realize that she had created something special.

What she was describing, without the word for it, was mindfulness. For the duration of that performance, she had entered a deep mindful state comparable to what is described by meditation teachers. She was lodged in the present moment, not reflecting and not anticipating.

It seems to me that music has long served a similar function to formal meditation, and a complementary one. I urge my students to practice mediation, in part because I hope that the skills they build there will enable them to give mindful performances that transcend the ordinary.