According to cognitive models, the negative perception of one’s performance and the post-event
rumination (PER) occurring after stressful social events maintain social anxiety. These aspects have
hardly been studied in music performance anxiety (MPA), a specific form of social anxiety. The first
aim of this study was to analyze the development of negative and positive PER over two days following
a soloist concert, depending on the usual MPA level. The second aim was to investigate if subjective
performance quality serves as mediator between MPA and PER. Negative and positive PER were assessed
10 minutes, one day and two days after a concert in 72 music students with different levels of usual
MPA. Subjective performance quality was measured 10 minutes after the study concert. An increasing
usual MPA level was associated with more negative and less positive PER. Both decreased over time.
Negative PER decreased less rapidly in high-anxious than in low-anxious musicians and positive
PER decreased more rapidly in low-anxious than in high-anxious musicians. Subjective performance
quality mediated the relationship between MPA and PER. These findings extend previous knowledge
in social anxiety to the field of MPA and have implications for interventions aiming at reducing MPA.