Currently, 75% of classical musicians develop practice-related injuries, and most rely on drugs known as beta blockers to reduce physical symptoms of stage fright. The Art of Practicing Institute is a nonprofit organization dedicated to changing the culture of music education and performance for the benefit of musicians and their audiences. Through innovative, mindfulness-based teaching methods, our unique programs and products get to the root of musicians’ problems and help them reduce physical and mental tension, recover from practice-related injuries, eliminate dependence on drugs to combat performance anxiety, and perform with ease, confidence, and expressive power.
The Institute was founded in 2002 by pianist Madeline Bruser, author of The Art of Practicing: A Guide to Making Music from the Heart. Acclaimed by world-renowned musicians and translated into three languages, this groundbreaking book outlines a comprehensive, step-by-step approach to practice and performance that integrates mindfulness-awareness techniques with healthy body mechanics and rhythmic principles. The Institute supports the educational activities of a network of music teachers trained in this unique approach, so that their students can develop physical, mental, and emotional freedom in making music, and thus bring greater joy to themselves and to their audiences.
“I began working with the Art of Practicing approach after a performance-related injury. Almost immediately, my whole physical approach to the piano became lighter and freer, and I could play again without aggravating the injury. Even more importantly, my mental and emotional attitudes have improved—I have been enjoying practicing again.”
—Cathy Corcoran, accompanist and teacher, New Jersey
“When I enrolled in The Art of Practicing Institute’s summer program, I hoped to expunge a paralyzing performance anxiety that had plagued me for over a decade. The experience was transformative: I performed a solo work on the final concert without the aid of beta blockers — something I had not done for over four years — and the outcome was deeply satisfying. I fell in love with my cello all over again, finally reclaiming the music for myself!”
—Ruth Ann Scanzillo, cellist, Erie, Pennsylvania
ORIGINS
Founding teacher Madeline Bruser, a graduate of the Juilliard School, began her training in mindfulness techniques at 29, after achieving a fair amount of success as a young artist but still feeling dissatisfied with how she felt on stage. Practicing mindfulness-awareness meditation resulted in a profound change in her practicing, performing, and teaching. She began giving seminars called The Art of Practicing in 1985, and musicians of many different instruments soon sought her help with problems of tension, injury, and performance anxiety. Her book was published in 1997, has sold 100,000 copies in English, and has been translated into Korean, Chinese, and Italian.
OUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS
- Over 2,500 musicians have benefited from working with our faculty, through our annual summer program, workshops, and private lessons, including online instruction
- Performers and music teachers from eight countries have received training at our summer program
- Hundreds of music students have been learning our techniques from these teachers.
- Music students at colleges and conservatories in four countries have attended workshops with our senior teachers in those countries
- 40 pianists with practice-related injuries have retrained their technique with founding teacher Madeline Bruser, enabling them to resume their performing careers
- Musicians in six countries and four continents have participated in our live online workshops, meeting twice monthly, where they are receiving valuable, ongoing guidance and support from our faculty
- One day of video shooting has been completed for use in an online course on the Art of Practicing and Performing, which will reach thousands of musicians
- Our first audio product, Madeline Bruser’s 2017 instruction in the Performing Beyond Fear Exercise, was released in December, 2017, and is now helping musicians in several countries perform with more confidence and expressive power. We have recorded two additional audios for release in 2025.
- Our teachers have conducted workshops in the Art of Practicing at the Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, Oberlin Conservatory, San Francisco Conservatory, Cincinnati Conservatory, the Rimon School of Music, Amici della Musica, Conservatoire Region de Paris, the Canadian Conservatory of Music, the MTNA National Convention, the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy, the Israel Philharmonic International Conference on Music Education, and many other leading institutions.
- Founding Teacher Madeline Bruser was a keynote speaker at the 2022 Performing Arts Medicine Association conference in Tampa, Florida, conducting an interactive workshop on Performing Beyond Fear.
- Certified Teacher Laura Amoriello presented on mindfulness approaches to training musicians at national conferences for music educators throughout the U.S. in 2022 and became the head of the Committee for Pianists’ Wellness of the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy.
” The API summer programs gave me a safe place to voice my fears of failure, inadequacy, and vulnerability, and provided the support, empathy, and compassion, as well as tremendous practical tools, to move beyond those fears. As a result, at the closing concert, for the first time in my life, I felt free and joyous throughout my performance. The question I had been asking for over 20 years, throughout my university and professional career – Is it possible to be unafraid, centered, and free during a performance? – has been answered with a resounding YES. Working with Madeline and her teachings has given me great insight into the human condition and has made me a better teacher, a better musician, and a better human being. I am honored to now be on the API faculty and am 100% committed to this way of teaching and playing.”
—Tracy Stuchbery, pianist, Toronto, 2017 API Assistant Teacher
OUR GOALS
Through our unique and comprehensive mind-body approach to practice and performance, we aim to make a major contribution toward transforming the teaching of music throughout the world by
- Expanding our teacher training programs and certifying more teachers
- Sponsoring more workshops by our teachers in college music departments and conservatories
- Creating and distributing more audio and video teaching materials
- Offering an online course in the Art of Practicing and Performing
- Establishing an online year-round music conservatory
- Initiating an international conference on transformative music education
2025 Projects include:
- Providing scholarships for worthy performers to attend our sixth annual Transformative Piano Master Class Series.
- Providing scholarships to accomplished piano teachers to attend Madeline Bruser’s Advanced Piano Teacher Training
- Editing and releasing the audios of Madeline Bruser’s instruction in meditation and Focusing for musicians, recorded at the 2017 summer program
- Promoting our Advanced Piano Teacher Training program through national teachers’ organizations
- Initiating the creation of our online course on the Art of Practicing, to include segments on piano, trumpet, trombone, flute, and saxophone technique, by our faculty members.
“Doing the Performing Beyond Fear exercise before each performance quite honestly transformed my experience of performing. I actually found myself enjoying the moment, and feeling like I could lose my ego to some extent and just give the music to the audience.”
—Felicity Corrie, cellist and teacher, Bedford, UK, Cambridge University Alumna
OUR VISION
We envision a world in which all musicians are free to play with profound confidence and expressive power, allowing them to spread their full vitality, joy, and brilliance to their audience, and to transmit greater wisdom to the next generation of music students and performers.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Madeline Bruser, President and Artistic Director
Kirk Ferguson, Chairman
Linda Kjerland, Secretary
Pedro Zenteno, Treasurer
Carl Adams
BOARD OF ADVISORS
Stephen Burns
Roger Nierenberg
Paula Robison