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Well, you just have to think: I play for the people who likes it, not for the people who doesn't like it. Good luck!

I went to a performance psychology class last summer... didn't really help me, unfortunately; it wasn't the right time. However, I guess he gave some good advice:

Remember that the audience wants you to succeed. So do your fellow musicians. The ones that are better than you aren't laughing at you if they're worth caring about, and the ones that are at your level feel comaderie with you. Nobody wants you to fail, but they won't kill you if you mess up. The absolute worst that can happen to you if you mess up is that people will feel bad for you. Not because you suck. Because they are sad that you had such bad LUCK. Not bad skill.


Other than that... I dunno. Walk around onstage a little bit, if you can... it's amazing how much less nervous you sound when you have to concentrate on your feet. A soloist from the Budapest orchestra taught us that one; the girl he was talking to sounded great. And then she started walking around onstage, and was suddenly twice as good. During a performance you might not be able to walk quite as much, but move around if you can.
Annd... eat a banana? They're supposed to help settle your stomach. xd

yay for collegiate speech class! Actually speech class deals with this problem directly during the first week or two. Public speakers have this problem too (and it sucks if you let it control you). Here are the tips we were required to memorize in the first week.

1. Visualize success. Before you actually perform, take some time in a quiet place and imagine yourself before, during, and after the performance --doing your best and loving it.

2. Develop a sense of control. As you walk on stage, gain the mentality of "I own this." or "I worked so hard, I'm not going to let myself down now. I'm gonna rock this thing out." Egotistic? maybe yes. But no one else knows, and it causes kick-a** performance.

3. Relax your muscles. There are a few simple exercises to relax your muscles, stopping trembling. You can tense your entire body as tight as you can -- every muscle -- and hold for five to ten seconds, and then release. Repeat this until you feel totally calm. Or you can do this to your arms or hand only, for violin. Breathe deeply. Breathe as deep as you can and hold it for only five seconds, and exhale. This slows down your brain operations a bit -- for when they are going too fast for your own good. And finally, one that works for my violin playing alot -- just give your left hand a good shake. Loosen out your muscles. Let it just kinda flop once really fast. Doing these exercises right before a performance really helps out, I've found.

4. Recognize "nervousness" for what it really is, and find a way to control it. Scientifically speaking, the "nervous" feeling is the same feeling as excitement. In speech class, we are not allowed to say "nervous." We must say "excited." The word "nervous" has mental impact. And just think--do you remember when you were a little kid, and you wake up to remember it's Christmas morning? Isn't this feeling the same as what you feel on stage? It's excitement. Be excited for success, but don't let your excitement control you.

This wasn't in the speech book (because it's really for musicians), but it sometime it helps me to just close my eyes when I'm playing and imagine a story that the music might be a soundtrack to, and just "get lost in the music." It helps you forget about where you are.

I hope this helps.

Although I myself have only ever had performance nerve issues that affected me on stage once (I'd been playing for four months, there was a $200 first place prize, it was a fiddle contest, we had to draw numbers, I drew last... and got #1), I was once told this advice by a man who had been a violinist his whole life and a highschool orchestra director for 25 years.
I'm most nervous when it's a competition (I don't count selective auditions as competitions even though they are) or when I've never done a particular event before. So don't get me wrong, I still have nerves before going on stage. However, most of my nervous energy is expended hours before I go onstage, generally in the form of chatter. Then, a minute or two before I go onstage, I get butterflies.
It may help to just make sure you're absolutely prepared for it long before you have to play. Oh, and eat a banana every two hours. If you don't like eating bananas, have a banana milkshake! There are products at GNC which you can buy, generally with the title of "Calm Thoughts" and such. Since they are natural and not synthetic elements, they do not upset your stomach or cloud your mind, they just make you focus. They're not illegal, and it's not "cheating". Generally they have stuff like licorice and peppermint in them. Also, think about the actual event less! Push the worrying back to the day before, two days before, three days before! That's why I only get nervous right before I walk on stage; I'm suddenly forced to think about it. So I take a deep breath, smile, imagine the best and that they love me, and walk on stage.

The more you perform the more you will be able to control and harness your nerves. Professionals still get nervous, but they are able to use that to their advantage. In a few years you will be far less nervous at performances. This is why recitals with private teachers are a good idea.

practice a lot know what you are playing by heart, know it even better than you think you have to, but use your music any way in case you get lost. but practice without it sometimes. practice on the stage where you're going to be playing and get a feel for the sound. the better you are prepared, the better you will preform, no matter how stressed you are. when you are up there playing, remember to breath and let yourself get lost in the music. put your full concentration into what you're playing, and if you mess up, keep playing like it never happened. the audience wants you to do well and they will remember what you did well more than what you did wrong.