Taking the hurdles of performance: approaches to training in music and sports

Taking the hurdles of performance is a research project that explores the common ground between musical performance and performance in sports, with a focus on the mental preparation for crucially important actions and events. The project aims to establish (1) whether it is possible to develop adequate education for musicians on the basis of insights from sport psychology and training theory; (2) how this education can be provided on a permanent basis in the programmes of conservatories. From 2015, the research, which is now in its experimental phase, takes place in so-called ‘study labs’, which are organized once or twice a year. The institutional partners of the CvA in this project are the Faculty of Behavioural and Human Movement Sciences of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU) and the Leiden University Medical Centre (LUMC).

Study lab 1, 2015

Study lab 2, 2016

BAKKER, Frank C., Jan Kouwenhoven, Michiel Schuijer; and Raôul D. Oudejans (2016)
The Study Lab Project: An Evidence-Based Approach in Preparing Students for a Public Recital’. Piano Bulletin 34/1 (March), pp. 92-99.

BUMA, Lori A., Frank C. Bakker and Raôul R. D. Oudejans (2014)
'Exploring the thoughts and focus of attention of elite musicians under pressure'. Psychology of Music.

FENEMA, E.M. van, and Carmen van Geel (2014)
'Mental problems among first-year conservatory students compared with medical students'. Medical Problems of Performing Artists 29/2 113-114.

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