Feeling when performing

[vitamind]

Hey guys,
For school I have to write a story about "Belonging" and I chose a pianist as my theme.  My story outline is A pianist who is sitting behind giant curtains listening to the person before him finishing.  He feels very nervous and tense but as he walks up to the piano and starts playing he feels more "Belonging...". 

What I would need help with is for concert pianists or those who frequently play infront of large audiences to vivdly describe how you guys feel before,during and after a large concert.  Being a amateur pianist myself I haven't really had the oppurtunity to perform infront of large audiences so insight would be greatly appreciated.   

[sucom]

I haven't performed in public for many years but I can still vividly remember how I used to feel.  There were just 200 people in the audience when I was 13 years old and I remember feeling sick and faint while waiting to go on.  As I walked onto the platform I couldn't even remember the first bars of the pieces I was supposed to be playing.  What a horrible experience that was!  But as soon as I sat down at the piano, something just took over, and the music just flowed from somewhere, just as it had in my practice before the concert. 

With larger audiences, I can only describe the experience as surreal.  Horrible nerves before going on (I never used to be able to eat) but once the music starts you just have to go with the flow because there isn't time to think about anything - that's the beauty of music; it just flows, you can't hold it back and think about it; it's forever moving forward and you just have to go with it.

I've never had shaky hands although they have felt hot, but I do remember one concert where the heel of my foot was shaking.  Very weird - that had never happened to me before!  It made pedalling tricky to start with, lol.

After a concert, relief and exhilaration mostly.