Piano Lab Pro: The Science of Stage Presence
Immersive tools that help musicians understand and manage performance anxiety – now entering the University of Michigan class piano curriculum.
Piano Lab Pro is a new Apple Vision Pro app that lets pianists face the pressure of performing before it ever counts. Using immersive extended reality (XR), it recreates the experience of stepping onto a recital stage so students can rehearse their music and rehearse their nerves in a supportive, low-stakes setting. Developed at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance in partnership with the Center for Academic Innovation (CAI) and the Institute for Social Research (ISR), the app pairs an immersive practice environment with new research on how the body responds to performance stress.
Piano Lab Pro App: Coming Soon to Apple Vision Pro
Attend the premiere
Piano Lab Pro: The Science of Stage Presence
Thursday, August 27, 2026 | 1:30–3:30 pm | Britton Recital Hall
Free | Registration required
The afternoon features a live demonstration, a look at the research behind the app, and remarks from SMTD Dean David Gier, ISR Director Kate Cagney, and CAI Chief Technology Officer Jeremy Nelson. Premiere event details.
What is Piano Lab Pro?
Piano Lab Pro transports a student to a realistic concert-hall setting – modeled on U-M’s own performance spaces – through the Apple Vision Pro headset. Within that environment, students can:
- Settle in with pre-performance routines and grounding exercises
- Perform in an immersive practice environment that mirrors the feel of a live stage
- Reflect afterward on how they felt physically and emotionally, and what helped
The goal is simple: help students recognize the signs of music performance anxiety, build a personal toolkit for managing it, and walk onto a real stage with more confidence and presence. Piano Lab Pro was created by Aya Hagelthorn, Lecturer of Piano Pedagogy, Director of Collegiate Class Piano at SMTD, and is the first project CAI has built for Apple Vision Pro.
Understanding music performance anxiety
Almost every performer feels nervous before going on stage – and a certain amount of that is completely normal. It can even be a good sign: your body’s way of telling you the energy is flowing and you’re ready. Music performance anxiety (MPA) is what happens when those nervous feelings cross a threshold and start to get in the way of performing at your best. It’s common among musicians at every level, from first-year students to seasoned professionals – and no one experiences it alone.
What makes Piano Lab Pro different is that we can actually see the nerves happen. Under pressure, the body gives off measurable signals, and the research behind the app makes those signals visible. When students can see their own patterns, they can start to understand them – and learn practical strategies to work with them rather than against them.
Woven into the experience is a short, private self-check (adapted from a validated performance-anxiety scale) and a set of coping strategies covering the physical, mental, behavioral, and emotional sides of anxiety, so each student can build an approach that fits them.
Entering the class piano curriculum
In fall 2026, Piano Lab Pro and a companion module – “Performing Under Pressure” – are entering the class piano curriculum at SMTD, reaching students across our class piano sections. Rather than a one-off experience, it’s a structured part of how students learn to perform.
Each week follows a simple four-part rhythm:
- Understand – learn what MPA is and how it shows up for you
- Rehearse – practice performing under gradually increasing pressure
- Equip – build and try out concrete coping strategies
- Reflect – review what happened and what to carry forward
Practice builds step by step – from low-pressure run-throughs toward mock recitals and, ultimately, real performance settings – so confidence grows at a manageable pace. A cohort of students will also complete guided sessions in the Apple Vision Pro headset as part of the module.
A Michigan collaboration
Piano Lab Pro brings together three parts of the University of Michigan, each contributing distinct expertise:
- School of Music, Theatre & Dance (SMTD) – the vision, pedagogy, and home of the project.
- Center for Academic Innovation (CAI) – the technology and XR development partner. Learn more at ai.umich.edu.
- Institute for Social Research (ISR) – the research partner studying how musicians respond to performance stress. Learn more at isr.umich.edu.
Together, this interdisciplinary team is pairing immersive design with rigorous research to build something new for music education.
Guides & Resources
Student Guide
(Coming soon!) A plain-language introduction to MPA and coping strategies for students
Facilitator Guide
(Coming Soon!) The teaching companion for graduate student instructors delivering the module
Contributors
Piano Lab Pro was a cross-campus effort. In all, close to 100 people at the University of Michigan contributed to its development, filming, research, and testing. The core team included:
School of Music, Theatre & Dance (SMTD)
- Aya Hagelthorn – SMTD Lecturer of Piano Pedagogy, Director of Collegiate Class Piano, and Coordinator of the Piano Pedagogy Laboratory Program
- Anıl Çamcı – SMTD Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Performing Arts Technology
Center for Academic Innovation (CAI)
- Ian Moore – Senior UX Designer
- Hedieh Najafi – Learning Experience Designer (LXD) Senior
- Eric Schreffler – XR Developer Lead
- Moeezo Saleem – Senior XR Developer
- Raymond Majewski – XR Environmental Artist
- Amanda Cowell – Experiential Technologies Project Manager
- Kavya Jeganathan – UX Design & Research Student Fellow
- Zoe Corser – XR Developer Student Fellow
- Haley Tolan – Project Management & Research Student Fellow
- Hyunkyung Shin – Audio Engineer Student Fellow
Institute for Social Research (ISR)
- Richard Gonzalez – Director, BioSocial Methods Collaborative; Professor of Psychology and Statistics
- Alicia Carmichael – Research Process Director
- Donna Walter – Operations Manager & Participant Engagement Specialist
- Brandon Labbree – Research Lab Manager
- Natalie Leonard – Research Associate
- Jess Francis-Levin – VR Gerontechnologist and Researcher
Contact
For questions about Piano Lab Pro or the class piano curriculum, contact Aya Hagelthorn ([email protected]), Collegiate Class Piano, U-M School of Music, Theatre & Dance.