A fellow at Banjo Camp North last year told me about attending an all-day event at (I think it was) Lincoln Center, where Yo-yo Ma, the famous cellist, played all (I think it was six) Bach unaccompanied cello sonatas in one day. Just him, the riveted center of attention for maybe four hours.

This guy (forget his name now) had a chance to speak to Yo-Yo Ma, and asked if that concentrated attention to him, playing some of the most complicated music there is, didn't give him a fit of nerves.

Yo-Yo Ma said, "Not at all. I take the attitude that I have something to share, and nothing to prove."

When one suffers from stagefright, it's because he's worried about people's attitude toward himself; he's not focusing on what he should, which is (in our case) the song.

Dave Oesterreich