The main causes of stress
There are times when performing in public can be more stressful than others. If you are very tired or if you get there late, then it can be stressful. But if you are prepared, then you settle down and you get a buzz from the audience. Sometimes you can exult in the stress because it propels you along. Dealing with managers, publicity, big companies and these new super-structures can be stressful because you are getting faxes and you don't know where they are coming from or who you are dealing with.
When you perform a new piece in public for the first time, it can be stressful because you are taking a leap into the unknown.
Coping with stress
Being prepared is very important. You have to practise so much, but you never have enough time. I often can't get hold of a piano, which seems strange, as many homes have one. So I find myself playing in a hotel bar, in restaurants or in airports to get the practice in.
If a flight is cancelled or luggage is lost, then I tell myself it's not my fault and I just switch off and read a book or magazine. During the bad weather, my flight from Paris to Dublin was cancelled and then rerouted to Cork. I didn't know if I would get to the rehearsal in Dublin or not, but I told myself it wasn't my fault there was a tornado over Dublin and there was nothing I could do.
A stressful profession?
I don't think performing is more stressful than any other job. If you are continually being creative and every day is different, then it must be less stressful than a job where you are doing the same thing every day. I think a nine-to-five job in something like computers or sales must be very stressful.
In conversation with Alison Healy
The Music Network/ESB Barry Douglas nationwide tour begins on Thursday, November 30th in Letterkenny and ends on December 13th in Tralee.