After YSM: a chat with ETHEL string quartet violinist and entrepreneur Corin Lee ’13MM

As far back as middle school, Corin Lee struggled with performance anxiety. Frustrations and perceived failures continued until Lee acquired the skills to find success. After conquering his own stage fright, Lee designed the coaching business Liberated Performer and has helped more than 1,000 musicians get past their fears and arrive at a place where they can express themselves on stage the way they can in the practice room. As an extension of Liberated Performer, Lee recently developed VR Practice, which uses technology to desensitize players so they can perform more comfortably in front of an audience. We caught up with Lee via email to understand his personal mission and the work he’s doing to share what he’s learned after YSM.

Q: What was the impetus to launch Liberated Performer? Have you struggled with performance anxiety?

A: I launched Liberated Performer the second I found that the strategies that were helping me go from a complete nervous wreck in auditions and performances to an expressive performer in public helped others, like my peers at YSM. In fact, my YSM peers were the first ones to help me shape the program as they were always up to try anything to improve their performance quality. For example, I remember us going into countless restaurants, sidewalks, open mics, and lobbies around Yale to practice performing. Such a simple exercise but so effective. Not to mention, it brought us closer as friends and provided an amazing support group for when we went off and auditioned/performed during the school year.

The reason I got into this field is because I experienced severe music-performance anxiety starting in middle school. I would be sweating profusely, shaking, heart pounding out of my chest, my shoulders and hands would become tense, I’d get distracted, and overall, I would just feel shame and embarrassment. This would result in a significant decrease of my own personal performance quality no matter how much I improved in technique and musicality. This continued through high school and on my undergraduate audition circuit. I remember going into Peabody for a recorded audition, playing out of tune, missing shifts, rushing, and sweating, even with no panelists in the room. It really made me feel miserable. I continued to have shaky auditions, and I’ll never forget when I hit the lowest of lows at my Curtis audition. It was in a small room, and the teachers I had listened to growing up were only about seven feet away from me. I went on auto pilot and my mind went blank. I didn’t get in. At that point, after multiple poor auditions, I got really angry. I thought to myself: I practiced so much, I did everything my teacher said, I couldn’t have prepared more, yet this is what is happening? It really got me just so mad at how much time I had wasted. So, when my Juilliard audition came around, I was significantly less nervous because I was angry. I remember walking on stage and just expressing myself. Suddenly, a lot of my practice room work was reflected technically and musically. I got in. So, was the lesson to always play angry? Probably not, but it was more effective than playing with severe music-performance anxiety. It was also interesting to note that practicing more and improving in technique and musicality didn’t help me reduce my anxiety much either.

As I began my time at Juilliard, the debilitating nerves came right back for every lesson, rehearsal, and concert. That continued for three years with the same results. I would significantly improve technically and musically, but when it came to performing, I would continue to underperform. I quickly realized there was no chance I would have a job if I didn’t figure this out. Not to mention, I started to think it was weird that I was spending all this time preparing just to feel terrible on stage. Luckily, Noa Kageyama was the first to help me. His program has great exercises and he as a person grounded me because he was the first one to have a psychology background and a music background. He understood the nuances of performing and could relate to the specific questions. For the first time ever, I began to experience my lessons and performances with more control, ease, and a slower heart rate. From there, I simply kept making my preparation process more and more personal, but the important thing is that I realized there was a path to success. This came to fruition as I won a small international competition in New York City. To me, it was a success not because I won, but because for the first time I went on stage for each round, fully expressed myself, and executed technically, with a strong focus on communicating the music to the audience. It was magical, especially for me and my history of performing. The calmness and good energy I had before walking on stage, and the joy I had during and after, really changed my career.

For my graduate audition circuit, my playing level was significantly less impacted by my nerves. I played much closer to what I was achieving in the practice room because I had a process. It was an incredible step. During my time at Yale, I continued to refine the audition-preparation process with the help of my classmates and Ani Kavafian and Astrid Baumgardner. When my first professional audition came, I used my preparation process and walked in and played how I wanted to.

Q: What do you see as the primary benefit of VR Practice?

A: VR Practice has the primary benefit of reducing music-performance anxiety. This could be useful for students who have little-to-no experience performing, or those who only have negative experiences while performing. I think it just makes the unfamiliar familiar, and hopefully the student believes it enough to become more desensitized to playing for an audience. I think it’s also important to note that there are still quite a few fundamental limitations in VR right now. For example, it’s heavy and the 360-camera quality is still mediocre. Most notably, the pace of change to the hardware is quite slow. Nevertheless, improvements are being made and I believe VR will have a positive impact on musicians. I am also not alone working on the project. My fellow members of the string quartet ETHEL (Kip Jones, Ralph Farris, and Dorothy Lawson), ETHEL’s Foundation for the Arts, the University of Oklahoma School of Music (Jonathan Nichol, director, and Yena Lee ’15MM ’16MMA, assistant professor of violin and concertmaster of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic), and support from the Music Academy of the West’s Alumni Enterprise Award have all contributed to early success.

Q: When did you first engage your entrepreneurial spirit, and how does working on Liberated Performer and VR Practice complement your work as a performer?

A: I think I’ve always had parts of the entrepreneurial spirit in the sense that I am immensely curious about many things, I am an avid learner, and I am comfortable failing until the problem is solved without being discouraged (thanks to classical music). I think I truly tapped into it when I realized if I created something that is missing in the music field, or if I do something in a different way than the existing way, I could have a positive impact on others. This is my primary motivation, so why wouldn’t I create Liberated Performer, a program that helps performers gain confidence on stage? Why wouldn’t I put time toward VR, a new technology that has the potential to improve the experience of a performer on stage?

Both Liberated Performer and VR Practice contribute significantly to my work as a performer. Liberated Performer keeps my ego in check, my performance focus strong, and increases my love for performing through positive repetition. I also get to meet a ton of different types of performers from around the world. It is amazing to see their view of the world and work with them on audition preparation and concert preparation.

VR Practice complements my work as a performer because it helps me to continue to learn cutting-edge music-production skills—something that is valuable in today’s world.

 Q: Did your time at Yale prepare you in any specific ways for the different kinds of work you’re doing now?

YSM 100 percent prepared me for the professional world. I need to recognize five important figures at YSM. The first was my undergraduate teacher at Juilliard, Hyo Kang, who also taught at YSM. He was the rock that got me to an extremely solid level of playing (also Naoko Tanaka). In addition, he let me find my music technology centered voice the last year at Juilliard before coming to YSM. At YSM I studied with Ani Kavafian, who immediately saw who I was and supported me the entire two years. She held me to a high standard, was so fun to work with, and gave me confidence that I could succeed immediately. The year after I graduated, I was part of the Yale Baroque Ensemble studying with Robert Mealy. He introduced me to the early music scene (which is quite similar to the new music scene in many ways), and expanded my creativity through unique experiences, technique, style, and music notation.

Outside of my violin studies, I took full advantage of elective courses and opportunities. Astrid Baumgardner helped me focus on the development of Liberated Performer. She gave me one of the cornerstones of Liberated Performer—a book called Co-Active Coaching.

Finally, I was able to study under Jack Vees in the Center for Studies in Music Technology. I was one of his work-study tech people watching over CSMT, helping set up concerts with guest artists, running student recording sessions, assisting with music software, and, most important, spending too much time with new tech gadgets.

These fantastic teachers helped me win the ETHEL string quartet audition just a few months after YSM, which immediately launched me into the professional touring lifestyle. I was not only selected on my violin playing, but also for the additional skills I brought to the organization such as the ability to work with students in residencies/outreach with Liberated Performer, and help ETHEL utilize music technology by assisting with music production and live sound.

 Q: What advice would you give musicians who are in school and envisioning what their career might look like after graduation?

A: I think solving this very question before graduation is crucial. If you know who you are as a person and player, you will know what goals you need to achieve and what steps it takes to get there. I think the first few years after graduation are critical. Are you improving, and at what speed? If not, how can you keep up the momentum? Your career is just beginning, and you must keep improving. Look at what got you where you are. As you prepare for your career, expect there will be hard times, difficult decisions, and unfavorable outcomes. This is the time to activate what got you into and through YSM.