Recital Preparation

Music is an art. More specifically, however, it is a performing art. You can't make it in a secluded room and then display it for all to see once you're happy. At least, not all the time. All musicians should be good performers. Regardless of how good one sounds in the practice room, music is communication and communication works best from person to person when both are physically present. If you want any amount of rapport or renown as a musician, you absolutely must be ready to perform in public.
What is so interesting to me is the amount of people I run into who claim to be musicians and yet unabashedly cite performing as the bane of their musical career. They love playing music, but not in front of people. What? That's weird. The point of music is to enrich the lives of others. Saying you like being a musician, but aren't comfortable performing is akin to a surgeon saying they love saving people's lives but don't feel competent with a scalpel under pressure. Surgeons get over the fear and the pressure because that's precisely what you need to do to be a successful surgeon. I would say the same goes for musicians. You have to embrace the fact that you must perform and you must learn how to do it as well as possible (which means performing as much as possible to learn) so you can be comfortable in your own skin and your own accomplishments up on the stage.
For music to be truly meaningful, not just impressive, or entertaining, you have to give a convincing performance. This doesn't mean you have to be flawless. Good performances happen even with the unfortunate distractions mistakes can bring. Nevertheless, being a convincing performer means really believing what you are playing. If music does have meaning, then be 100% focused on the meaning of the music and make it your goal to convince your audience of the musical meaning that is convicting you.
Mistakes happen, and we work to ensure their demise because mistakes will distract and interrupt any connection the performer builds up with the audience. Getting past distractions is key, because whether they be mistakes, a sick audience member, or an alien invasion, they will happen, and you have to work around them. Work at eliminating the distractions in your own playing, but don't put your confidence in that. If you put your confidence in performing without mistakes, watch out! The one time you're ready to pull off a flawless performance, chances are a turkey will fly in through an adjacent window and ruin everything. Not to mention being absorbed in technicalities can often restrict the amount of musicality going on.
All that being said, this is very difficult, and very little of this is completely true all the time. Different circumstances will arise, and unexpected mishaps will occur. Keep trying, keep learning, and be committed to making your performances as convincing as possible.
So, in lieu of my mini-treatise on performance, I am preparing for my senior recital. I will be playing works of Brahms, Enesco, and Bach. In preparation for this, I have been doing a few different things. One, I will probably be changing my diet up a bit. Less caffeine, and lots of bananas the day of. Whether these acts make a biological difference is actually superfluous. It is the mental impression you get from rigorous preparation techniques that make things work. Placebo effect.
More exercise. Everything works better when one is fit. Always. Just a general principle of life. Plus I want to be conditioned for ultimate frisbee this summer.
More techniques for preparation are in the works. Watch for more on this topic in the coming weeks as my senior recital draws nearer and nearer!