In this blog post we are getting to know one of our newest team members here at Bristol Voice Care. Anupa Paul is a specialist Music Performance Anxiety Coach and Vocal Coach. She is based in Germany and works online with clients across the globe. She is part of the Bristol Voice Care Referral Network, offering bespoke coaching services to singers of all ages, stages, and genres.
We asked Anupa the following questions:
1. Tell us a little about your musical life.
I started singing in my church choir when I was 9 years old. Thus began my love for harmonies, choral singing and I guess live performances in general.
2. Who is your favourite singer/band/musician etc?
Oooh I don’t have a particular favourite, but I love attending concerts and listening to ensembles/choirs…
3. What is your all-time favourite piece of music? Have you got a favourite, ‘must-listen’ recording?
It is such a big problem for me to pick out one piece of music. But I guess you understand that as a musician yourself 😀
4. Tell us a bit about your work.
I am a voice and performance coach. I work with dedicated and enthusiastic hobby singers, tailoring lessons to their individual needs to develop proper singing technique. This enables them to sing freely and confidently, build mental resilience, and pursue their singing aspirations.
I collaborate with professional musicians, especially those who have to perform regularly in order to help them develop mental resilience and mindset technique, so that they are able to face the pressures of work while continuing to thrive in their field of work.
5. What inspired you to go into your current line of work?
Given my absolute love for live music – whether it’s me performing or listening to other artists, I began to realize that a lot of things need to fall in place in order to create that ‘magic’ of a live performance. One of the factors which kept coming up, both in my work and while working with my students, was the issue of music performance anxiety. It seemed to make the most fantastic of singers want to run away and hide or blitz through a performance. As a vocal coach, I realized that I needed to help my students deal with MPA and their mindset in general along with learning good singing technique. Thus began my research into the topic and my work as a coach for music performance anxiety in addition to being a vocal coach.
I guess my own journey as a singer who faced MPA is a huge part of it. I wanted to be the coach who I wished I had when I was a singing student…
6. What do you enjoy most about your work?
The absolute satisfaction of seeing my clients rediscover their joy of performing live music. And seeing them choose to do it over and over again with joy.
7. What moment/event/achievement in your work are you most proud of?
I got published for the first time this year. That was exciting. Apart from that, when my very first clients signed up when I moved to Germany – that was quite special.
8. What do you hope the partnership with Bristol Voice Care will bring singers and professional voice users?
That more people will come to know that there is help available and that vocal injury or fear and doubt need not stand in the way of achieving musical dreams and goals.
You can find out more about Anupa’s work on our website.
And you can read her latest publication here: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1386559/full
