The mock concert: How early-career performers decipher and develop stage mastery

Expert performers understand the impact of sight and sound on the concert stage and project performativity to captivate their audiences. Early-career performers embarking on a professional performance career can benefit from experts’ strategies to develop their performance skills and enhance stagecraft. The aim of this study was to develop and trial a mock concert as experiential learning for professional stagecraft. Three early-career pianists performed in a mock concert for an audience of their peers. The audience noted their impressions of performances, and all engaged in a focus group discussion. Responses were transcribed and analyzed thematically. The audience articulated their visual impressions and appraised performers’ stagecraft and performativity. The audience was drawn to distinctive and memorable stage demeanour that complemented musical expressiveness. Performers revealed their strategies for performativity to enhance concert preparation, project confidence, and achieve professionalism. The mock concert was an effective way to decipher the sight and sound of stage mastery in a practical learning opportunity for early-career performers.