i have a recital coming in a week and I'm a nervous wreck. just thinking of it causes anxiety. I can't rehearse because I'm too anxious. I'm afraid I'll have a panic attack of the recital. This week is going to be hell. any suggestions or tips? this is my first solo performance.

yes I do suffer from anxiety

I suffer from anxiety too. And I also sing. Honestly? What I do is think about the absolute worst thing that could happen and think about how I'd deal with it if it did. Maybe you'll forget some of the words or get a note wrong. So what. No one's there to see you fail. And no one's going to make fun of you for it, or if they do, they're probably just bitching because they're upset at themselves for not having the guts to get onstage themselves. How long is the song you're doing? Maybe 3-4 minutes tops? You can do this. Just take a few deep breaths and tell yourself that you're fine, that it's just you and your instrument (or voice?), and that no one else matters. And get practicing! The more you practice, the more confident you'll be. I won't tell you not to worry, because I know how anxiety it. Just breathe through it and you'll be just fine.

Well done you, to be so good as to be on stage! thats a marvelous achievement. Do you have any family/friends you could practice on? gather them together and ask them to sit whilst you sing for them, it might help you to feel better in front of a group of people. There are herbal things that can help to calm you like bach rescue remedy and calms. some of the most famous people in the world get stage fright, but from what they say it goes away once they're on stage and doing their piece. I really wish you well.

I tend to mess up the rhythm in the middle of the piece and fall out of sync with the piano. Right now, that's my biggest fear. Honestly, I know that it's no big deal if I do mess up, but I can't stop thinking that it would be. I'll be singing in front of a bunch of other music people so they'll know if I do screw up somewhere and that makes it more nerve wracking. My vocal coach will also be there but he's forgiving. I guess I'm just afraid of humiliating myself. The song isn't very long at all, just a minute and a half. Thank you for your reassurance and advice!

Thank you so much, that means a lot. Unfortunately singing in front of my family/friends makes me anxious (honestly I'd rather sing in front of strangers) but I've been practicing a lot on my own. I don't think it's as much the crowd as much as the fear of messing up. Like I said I can't break the habit of messing up in the middle of the song and it's stressing me out a lot. Thanks for the suggestions, I'll give those a shot. Hopefully the anxiety will melt away once I'm on stage. Thank you for the well wishes.

Hey!

As someone who has vomited on stage before, I totally get stage fright. But I have since overcome that and have performed at a local college and was offered a lead that I had the luxury of turning down; I think it's fair to say I know my way around the stage by now. And I will tell you a big secret: half the time, I'm pretty much winging it. I rehearse with the group so we all work smoothly, and then I memorize the basics of each scene- what my objective is, how it goes, etc. And then I pretty much wing it. Now, that may not work with a piano recital, but here's the moral of my story: trust your skill. You're good at this, and even if you DO royally eff this up, another opportunity will arise. Stage fright is real, and it sucks, but once you stop obsessing over perfection and realize as long as you get the gist of it ain't no one gonna know the difference, things will go a lot better. Channel some swank into your performance and maybe get a little cocky-- you'll own that stage, and ain't no one gonna stop you.