This summer, School of Music alum Cana Kashima ’25 (M.A. music-piano pedagogy) was chosen out of a pool of over 1,000 applicants to present her research study titled, “Piano Sight-Playing Performance Anxiety Mitigation Strategies” at the National Conference of Keyboard Pedagogy held June 6-8 in Chicago, Illinois.
The NCKP is an annual gathering of piano pedagogues who meet to “collectively consider the immediate challenges, opportunities and global impact of their field.”
Conference sessions focus on teaching and curriculum.
Thirty keyboard pedagogy students from across the nation were selected to create e-posters for the conference. Presenters set up in the hallways of the Westin Lombard Hotel where interested conference attendees scanned QR codes on each e-poster to learn more about the presenter’s research.
Kashima’s e-poster centered on how stress mitigation strategies can benefit performance anxiety in pianists when sight-playing sheet music.
To test her hypothesis, 16 volunteers were divided into two groups. Participants either performed breathing exercises or practiced reframing negative self-talk. Heart rate variability and muscle activity were measured in each group using electromyographic biofeedback, where sensors are attached to the body to measure the electrical activity of muscles.
Although both strategies were effective in reducing music performance anxiety, breathing exercises were proven to be a better strategy for improving heart rate variability, while the self-talk strategy served better for decreasing excessive muscle activity.
Kashima’s research was facilitated in part by the School of Music’s Performance Science Centre Lab, where faculty and students can access biometric tools to assess how their body and mind function while performing.
The feedback allows performers to make necessary adjustments to their technique to improve performance.
During the conference, Kashima shared her study with young professionals and university professors, including Lesley McAllister from Baylor University, who inspired her research.
The National Conference of Keyboard Pedagogy’s publication “Proceedings” will publish her research in early 2026.