Michel Ricquier

Session: Extracts from my trainings – The Importance of Mind in Instrumental Practice and in the Management of Stage Fright.

Michel Ricquier is a renowned French musician, acupuncturist, author of several educational works, teacher and trainer.

Holder of two first prizes from the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique of Paris at the age of 18, he obtained a Certified Teaching Credential at age of 20, which allowed him to immediately start his teaching career.

In order to solve the problems his students were experiencing, to enable them to improve and master their instrumental technique and to free themselves from stage fright, he quickly understood the importance of the relationship between the brain and the body in instrumental and vocal performance.

In parallel to his musical and pedagogical career, which he immediately practiced with passion, he also trained in other fields such as:

Psychology, Sophrology, Hypnosis (graduate of École d’hypnologie et de psychologie appliquée of Paris), Natural Medicine (graduate of The Heilpraktiker Fachschule of Sarrebrück), Traditional Chinese Medicine (Acupuncturist, holder of the National Diploma of        Traditional – Acupuncturist, graduate of the National Federation of Traditional Chinese Medicine, graduate of The Hong Kong Institut of Chinese Acupuncture and the New Medicine Institut of Hong Kong).

He also practiced Yoga and the Martial Arts (Aikido), Tai Chi Chuan, and Qi gong…

And whenever he has acquired new knowledge, he always adapted it to his instrumental playing and teaching.

He then developed these two methods which he named “Performance Anxiety Neuronal Elimination Process ™ (P.A.N.E.P.)” and the “Holistic Pedagogical System ™ (H.P.S.)”, which are based on scientific concepts borrowed from neuroscience (involving brain plasticity). Their effectiveness is proven and demonstrated by modern functional imaging devices (EEG, CT, fMRI, PETscan, scintigraphy, etc.).

For more than 30 years, he has helped musicians and artists to improve their technique (whatever their discipline and whatever their level), to acquire great reliability in their practice and to free themselves permanently from stage fright.

The effectiveness of these methods is based on a solid professional experience, since he taught these methods throughout his career at courses, conferences, seminars in France and abroad, such as…

Seminars for teachers, students, professionals, amateurs in conservatories and music schools, Conferences for the preparation of the Certificate of Aptitude for Teaching, Conferences at various national and international congress, symposiums, Internships at European Academies, Teaching missions in Taipei (Taiwan).

Currently retired, he no longer teaches face-to-face but distributes offers his training in videos on the Internet.