Yes, and repeated practice at performing _in front of an audience_ will gradually reduce that anxiety for most people. Getting to that state where you can be up in front of a lot of people and just enjoying yourself making music is a wonderful feeling, and for most of us it takes a lot of hard work over many years.

In my personal experience, both with musical performance and public speaking, the #1 thing that makes a difference in terms of how nervous I am during the performance is how well I know the material. The more I can "shut off my brain" and let rote memory handle the basics (correctness), the more room I have to take it further with nuance, dramatic arc, etc.

Y that was my exact thought. You need enough practice (private or public) to achieve the state where you can let your muscle memories to handle the basics.

YMMV; many musicians feed off an audience's energy and thus get more fully and deeply into the moment. Which is what all of this is about -- being 100% in the NOW and not in your conscious mind's memories (past) or anxieties (future).

also elite athletes who play "out of their minds" when everything's on the line, eg star basketball players whose 4th quarter shooting % in playoff games is higher than at any practice

Wonder how much is this related to meditation and mindfulness. Both Michael Jordan and Kobe Byrant meditate a lot:

https://abcnews.go.com/Health/michael-jordan-kobe-bryants-me...

https://www.linkedin.com/business/learning/blog/productivity...