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Children ages 5-12 in the United States. A parent or legal guardian must complete the submission.





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Children ages 5-12 in the United States. A parent or legal guardian must complete the submission.
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When I was 17 and auditioning as a piano major, I had only performed in recital once and had never faced a formal jury. Each school was a different environment, and I was unprepared for how much those settings would affect my focus.
At one audition, I began the opening of Beethoven’s Waldstein Sonata when someone behind me dropped a pen in a quiet passage. That brief sound hijacked my attention, and I don’t remember the rest of the audition. Other auditions were in cavernous rooms with unfamiliar acoustics or lighting, or on a large stage with the jury barely visible in the distance. I had practiced the repertoire exhaustively, but I had never practiced performing under disruption.
That realization stayed with me. On October 13, a friend showed me a cartoon by Janek Koza of Chopin Competition participants listening anxiously to audience coughing. It captured, with uncomfortable accuracy, what every performer recognizes: small interruptions can feel overwhelming under pressure. I started building a demo for the app that same day.
I have spoken with many teachers over the years and heard the same concern. The practice room can be controlled; the stage is not. It takes time to build the kind of focus that holds when the room doesn’t cooperate.
If any of this feels familiar, Nerves of Steel is here when you’re ready to rehearse the real thing.