In education and the Arts alike, it’s easy to become preoccupied with the final result – a polished essay, a flawless performance, a perfect grade. But true expertise is cultivated not in these static moments of achievement, but in the dynamic, often messy journey that leads to them. At St Catherine’s, we believe that the process of learning – marked by self-reflection, creative process, critical feedback, and persistent effort – is where real growth occurs.

Research shows that perfectionism is particularly prevalent among girls (Sand et al., 2021), with studies indicating continued increases in rates of perfectionism among adolescents (Curran & Hill, 2017). Perfectionism affects an estimated 25% to 30% of children and adolescents (Flett et al., 2016). In the context of music education, this drive for a flawless performance can sometimes overshadow the joy of discovery and self-expression, what we would call “the journey”. Studies have found that music students face increasingly high levels of perfectionism, which can stifle creativity and inhibit the development of a true musical voice (Herrera et al., 2021). Therefore, it is essential to create learning environments that encourage students to explore and embrace the unique opportunities music offers and look beyond a grade. Never has it been more important for our young people to start being comfortable with imperfection. By shifting the emphasis from achievement to personal growth and artistic exploration, our students can connect more deeply with music, find their inner voice, and experience the intrinsic rewards of learning, free from the constraints of perfectionism.

Recognising the need to foster such environments, the Years 9 and 10 Music Programs have provided students with a range of opportunities designed to nurture confidence and self-expression. Over the semester, students participated in workshops with alumni Coco Butterfield and Lilla Barrington, two former music students who are both pursuing tertiary studies in the Performing Arts. Students also developed their skills through masterclasses with internationally acclaimed Australian concert pianist Coady Green. Green, a past winner of the City of Sydney National Piano Competition who has performed at prestigious venues from Royal Albert Hall to Carnegie Hall, now lectures at the University of Melbourne. These enriching experiences empowered students to further develop their musical works and embrace the creative process. Their journey culminated in a concert at Regis Aged Care in Armadale, where students presented their final polished solo performances and concluded with a joyful ensemble sing-along featuring favorites such as “Over the Rainbow” and “Georgie Girl.” In this way, the program encouraged students to value personal growth and meaningful connection with others through music, rather than focusing solely on perfection. Reflecting on their experiences through the program, it was clear that our young musicians felt the same way.

On Masterclasses

“It was so good to have feedback from two people who were so experienced and had gone to the school, who’d has similar school experiences to me. And two people who’d gone on to do music and performance work at uni and had that experience too. I really trusted the process and feedback. It was really nicer to perform to people outside our class. It was also so great to hear their tips and strategies, because some of it were things I hadn’t considered before. I ended up using Lilla’s feedback to perform with more confidence and engage others into my final performance and really think this helped. Having different opinions from different people meant I learnt so much through this experience.”

Ava Nachmias – Year 9

“The masterclass was nerve-wracking but exciting. I really wanted to hear another musician understand and observe my playing. To be able to talk to them about what I am doing well, how I could improve, or another way to play different phrases. I was so nervous at first but when we worked on the piece together this nervousness went away. After I played, Cody had so much to say. He is really strict about his own playing, and this helped me feel more comfortable about my own mistakes. It really made me think about the music in different ways.”

Elsa Zhou – Year 10

“I was nervous, but only to begin with. When Lilla and Coco gave feedback, they were so kind, and knowing they had stood in my shoes really helped me settle in to this experience. I was actually able to enjoy this performance and the workshopping of the piece, this surprised me. They had great feedback, particularly about my posture and stage presence. This ended up as one of my performance goals for the Regis Concert, and their strategies really helped me. I took just as much away from this as I was able to take away as the assessed performances we’ve done.”

Olivia Liu – Year 10

On sharing a performance with others

“My goals going into my final performance were to evoke emotion within the audience, express myself within the character of the song, sing with precision. At my Regis performance, I could feel myself meaning every word that I was singing. My change in dynamics added a lot of emotional impact to my performance. I felt like my performance made the audience feel reached because most were smiling at me when I was performing. I think they felt this way because I was able to express emotion from within the song. The audience was so welcoming and kind, I would love to perform there again. My favourite part of this experience was being able to witness the performances of others as I could see how well they have progressed in their own musical skill especially from the masterclasses.”

Lucy Lim – Year 9

“I was both nervous and excited for our performance at Regis. I really wanted to show variety through my pieces and reach my top notes and I did this well. Making the residents smile and sing along to my pieces though was the part that made me most proud. I think the older generations like seeing young people with a passion for something. Given the opportunity I would definitely love to do this again. Usually I would say that I care the most about how I perform, but on this occasion, it was definitely more important to me as to how it was received by others. Generally, I care more about how I perform, but this time I cared more about how it was received by others. Rehearsing as an ensemble was also something I loved in the lead up to this experience. It was a really special opportunity for all of us and I thought everyone’s performances were some of the best they had done! Everyone looked so comfortable and pushed through it even when it was nerve-wracking.” 

Olivia Grasso – Year 10

“I’m most proud of how much I have improved since my previous performance. Though I was nervous about performing to an audience, it was really exciting to perform for others. My favourite part was seeing how much I had grown as a performer and that I was able to stay calm despite some distractions from the audience while I was singing. I am so thankful for having the opportunity to perform and for the support I received from others. It helped me become more confident on the stage.”

Elaine Lee – Year 10

“Playing at Regis felt more like a performance than an assessment task. I felt more relaxed than only performing in front of my friends.  I feel the audience received my piece well, a resident even told me how much she loved it. This has made me want to explore more places to perform. I loved our ensemble. This has been a new experience for me, as a small team that all play music so well. To create a group ensemble and practice together was great. I was happy about what I have done for this performance, though there were a few mistakes. But with each opportunity, I can see myself improving a lot through this semester and this has made me really happy.”

Elsa Zhou – Year 10

“Performing to the people in Regis made me feel happy because they were happy. It made me feel more confident. I believe the audience enjoyed and felt my performance, from the smiles on their face. I really enjoyed making the people happy with my music and believe both how I performed and how the audience perceived the performance were all equally important in this case. My favourite part was how encouraging everyone was to each other and also when our class performed as an ensemble at the end for the residents to sing a long to.”

Olivia Liu – Year 9

Reference List

• Curran, T., & Hill, A. P. (2017). Perfectionism is increasing over time: A meta-analysis of birth cohort differences from 1989 to 2016. Psychological Bulletin, 143(1), 18–33.
• Flett, G. L., Hewitt, P. L., Besser, A., Su, C., Vaillancourt, T., et al. (2016). The Child–Adolescent Perfectionism Scale: Development, psychometric properties, and associations with stress, distress, and psychiatric symptoms. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 34(7), 634–652.
• Herrera, L., Westerlund, H., & Miettinen, L. (2021). The role of perfectionism in music students: A review. International Journal of Music Education, 39(4), 573–586.
• Sand, L., Bøe, T., Shafran, R., Stormark, K. M., & Hysing, M. (2021). Perfectionism in Adolescence: Associations With Gender, Age, and Socioeconomic Status in a Norwegian Sample. Frontiers in public health, 9, 688811. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.688811