Bulletproof Musician. Professional Violinist. Ph.D. in Counselling Psychology. Performance Coach for Olympians. Professor.

Noa Kageyama, an eminent performance psychologist and coach, widely known as the 'Bulletproof Musician.' He started playing the violin when he was just 2 years old, spending the next 20 years training for a professional career as a violinist — playing with acclaimed musicians all over the world — while battling performance anxiety. In his second year of college at The Juilliard School in New York City, Noa discovered Sport Psychology and learnt a great deal about the discipline which then led him to quit playing music professionally and pursue a Ph.D. in Counselling Psychology.

Today, Noa specializes in teaching performing artists how to utilize sports psychology principles to more consistently demonstrate their full abilities under pressure. Noa has taught at premier institutions such as the New England Conservatory, U.S. Armed Forces School of Music, National Orchestral Institute, and more. His work has also been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Musical America, Strings Magazine, Strad, and Lifehacker. and writes for his popular Bulletproof Musician blog that has over 100,000 monthly subscribers.

Desire to immerse myself"—this is so powerful. It is so much observed in best professionals, best musicians, even in best relationships too. Anuradha Khanna
A brilliant talk, extremely enlightening and enjoyable. Thank you so much Noa and Hitendra. Chris Grune
Fantastic. How to build fundamentals for life: personal + professional + family’s. Thanks for the substantial talk. Joe Antony

In this episode of Intersections, Prof. Hitendra Wadhwa has a conversation with Noa Kageyama on the topic “Thriving Under Pressure and Becoming a Bulletproof Performer”.

Why do some people thrive under pressure while others choke? What do elite performers do differently? Are performers born or made? What does it take to achieve excellence?

“The idea is to practise making that switch from practise mode where you’re self-monitoring and critiquing to performance mode where you’re focusing on things that you know are going to be most helpful to you.”

Nao Kageyama

The episode “Thriving Under Pressure and Becoming a Bulletproof Performer” offers key insights on:

How to manifest power of embracing change, finding role models, and having the courage to explore
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What differentiates elite performers and realizing your full potential
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How to get the best out of your crafts by imbibing mindsets for practicing and performing effectively