Honens Lab

Pianist Elisabeth Pion invites musicians to an introductory Tai Chi workshop developed during her Guildhall School of Music & Drama Fellowship. Drawing on six years of Wu Style Tai Chi training, Elisabeth explores how this internal martial art can support musical performance through improved posture, coordination, concentration, breath awareness, and physical wellbeing. Tai Chi helps cultivate calm focus, responsiveness, and balance, while encouraging the “flow state” prized by performers, making it a valuable tool both on and off the stage.

Four selected Mount Royal University Conservatory students will each receive a 30-minute public lesson with one of Canada’s most celebrated pianists, exploring repertoire, interpretation, communication, and artistic expression.

Explore practical mental skills and effective practice strategies that teachers can introduce in the studio to help students play with greater focus, confidence, and independence. This session covers foundational mindfulness strategies to reduce performance anxiety and improve concentration, along with exercises in inner hearing, body awareness, and visualization. Teachers will also discover evidence-based practice methods that help students make practice time more productive and purposeful, with strategies for practicing both at and away from the piano to strengthen interpretation, memorization, and technical fluency.

Building upon the ideas of Foundations of Mindful Practice, this session addresses the full performance process—from preparation and pre-performance routines to managing nerves on stage and reflecting afterward. Participants will leave with concrete approaches they can integrate into lessons to support healthy technique, musical imagination, and expressive playing, while helping students build confidence, resilience, and freedom in performance.