Music performance anxiety in higher music education: the influence of environment, appraisal, and self-regulation

Recovering after a memory lapse presents a different problem from feeling less anxious before a recital. In this narrative mini review, we examine both problems in higher music education, concentrating on intended musical action during evaluation. Studies of pre-performance emotions and slow breathing distinguish performers’ subjective experiences from expert ratings and physiological responses. Research on choking identifies several reported forms of disruption, while student interviews locate difficulties in preparation, assessment relationships and the physical setting. These findings inform the Transactional-Ecological Model of Performance Agency (TEMPA), which relates personal resources and educational conditions to appraisal, regulation and the performance itself. Outcomes and their subsequent interpretation enter a learning loop across events. We use performance agency to mean the enactment or recovery of intended musical goals during an evaluated performance. Six propositions specify relationships to investigate, including whether observed recovery contributes information beyond prior skill, ordinary performance quality and established psychological measures. Coding would require agreed intentions and musically appropriate opportunities for re-entry; continuity, expressive recovery and perceived control cannot simply be treated as one outcome. The model suggests studies of recovery rehearsal and feedback, but its measurement and explanatory value remain to be established. Clinical distress and a student’s wider goals remain relevant even when musical execution is maintained.