Despite extensive cultural infrastructure and the growing popularity of musical events, musicians remain an under-researched group within higher education. Given the psychological demands of public performance, understanding the emotional challenges faced by musicians is crucial for supporting their artistic development and well-being. The main goal of this study was to examine the relationship between trait anxiety and music performance anxiety, testing for the mediation effect of different coping strategies and the moderation effect of self-efficacy beliefs. The sample comprised 130 musicians. Results indicated that coping strategies partially mediated the effect of trait anxiety on music performance anxiety. A significant interaction also emerged between anxiety and self-efficacy in predicting adaptive coping strategies. Overall, the study demonstrated that self-efficacy is an important factor strengthening adaptive coping with performance anxiety, regardless of trait anxiety, and provides a promising foundation for developing training programs for current and future musicians in higher education context.
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