Our Teachers

Amy Littlewood

Performance mentor

I studied violin at the Birmingham Conservatoire, both undergrad and postgrad and finished my time there with my piano trio on their fellowship course. I am associate 2nd violin with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, principal 2nd violin with Orchestra of the Swan, as well as freelancing with major orchestras across the UK. I was a founding member of the Hepplewhite Piano Trio which performed extensively across the UK for chamber music societies and festivals, won numerous competitions and attended the prestigious IMS Prussia Cove.

Whilst at music college, I became particularly interested in the area of music psychology when preparing for competitions, exams and concerts. As I engaged with these psychological techniques, I noticed there was shift in my mind, from being in the practice room to on stage (which had a knock-on effect on my playing), soon realising that in order to perform as I wanted, a lot of my preparation needed to happen mentally. I realised that if my mind was not in the right place, or I had only prepared technically and not mentally, then my performance was affected. This combination I feel, is the key to a successful performance. It is an area that is often not spoken about within the performing arts industry, however, its parallel in sport is spoken about in great depth and of significant importance. The effects of performance anxiety affected me very negatively, so I felt passionately towards researching this area and wanted to develop my training in order to help others.

I believe that there are many people that could benefit from this work, whether to help particular problems such as interfering nerves, or to generally enhance performance.

In addition to one-to-one private sessions, I also deliver talks and workshops to groups and organisations. As a mentor I am a visiting tutor at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, mentor for the CBSO career accelerator scheme and the CBSO Youth Orchestra, as well as a BAPAM trainer and provide support/resources for the Musicians' Union.

Qualifications:

BMus Hons, PG Cert, Diploma: Counselling and Psychotherapy