This well-crafted film raises important questions and offers paths to solutions. We screened COMPOSED at Harvard to a varied audience that included musicians, psychologists, psychiatrists, neuroscientists, and educators, many of whom wear more than one of those hats. We all came away with a new perspective, not only of performance anxiety, but about pedagogical practice, life skills and resilience, that I’m sure will resonate with them for a long time to come.

Composed provided an exceptional platform, for all in attendance, to engage in discussions on many crucial topics that will have a direct impact on quality of life issues as time progresses. Dealing with stress, ability to focus, substance abuse, setting priorities, time management, interpersonal relationships, professional development, and the realistic pursuit of excellence are all issues that we should be thinking about as we seek to provide transformational experiences for our students. It’s not about being perfect, rather it’s about being an empathetic, well-rounded human being contributing to the greater good through our collective passion for music. Composed goes a long way toward helping us get our priorities in order and in getting us to talk about the right things in the right way.

The film is an empathetic and humane examination of the musician’s life and work, providing a greater understanding of the pressures, and pleasures, of the musical life, and is a potent reminder that musicians should “know themselves”, to appreciate their strengths and abilities, rather than continually comparing themselves to others. As such it makes an important and timely contribution to the study and understanding of performance anxiety.