Liverpool Philharmonic And Help Musicians Launch Physio Toolkit Supporting Musicians’ Health & Wellbeing
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic has partnered with UK charity Help Musicians to launch ‘A Symphony of Good Sense’, a pioneering new toolkit designed to support the physical health and wellbeing of orchestral musicians.
Authored by leading UK musicians’ physiotherapist, Dr Sarah Upjohn, ‘A Symphony of Good Sense’ provides physiotherapists and healthcare professionals with comprehensive information to help tailor health and wellbeing provision to musicians’ needs.
Musicians face high injury rates, which can lead to significant negative impacts on their performance, health, wellbeing and careers. Multiple research studies over decades demonstrate that 77-89% of professional orchestral musicians may experience injuries. In response, the partners have produced additional guidance for professional orchestras to help introduce physical health programmes for their musicians.
‘A Symphony of Good Sense’ identifies common playing-related injuries across each section of the orchestra and outlines practical approaches to implement meaningful risk-reduction strategies, promote early identification of work-related musculoskeletal issues and speed recovery to ensure long-term occupational health.
Liverpool Philharmonic, which employs over 80 professional musicians in the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and In Harmony Liverpool, has been a pioneer in transforming the support enabling musicians to thrive artistically and personally through its Musicians’ Performance and Wellbeing programme. Launched in 2015, the programme provides a comprehensive range of physical and mental health support, and wide-ranging professional development opportunities such as training and performance psychology. The organisation has worked closely with the charity Help Musicians, BAPAM (British Association for Performing Arts Medicine) and the higher education and performance science sectors to advance the knowledge base in musicians’ health and wellbeing in the UK and internationally.
‘A Symphony of Good Sense’ and the guidance for orchestras is freely available to view and download.
‘A Symphony of Good Sense: An Introduction for Physiotherapists Working with Orchestral Musicians’ – View and download here.
‘Supporting Physical Readiness in Orchestral Performance: Guidance for Orchestras’ can be accessed here.
Peter Garden, Executive Director of Performance and Learning at Liverpool Philharmonic said: “Our world class musicians are central to providing exceptional performances and activities week in week out that entertain, inspire, move and engage thousands of audiences and participants. It is vital that we do all we can to create the environment and conditions in which they can thrive as artists and enjoy long, healthy and sustainable careers. We are incredibly grateful to Sarah Upjohn, our friends at Help Musicians, BAPAM, and everyone who has enabled the creation of ‘A Symphony of Good Sense’. We hope it will both inspire and provide practical help for orchestras and physios to improve the support for musicians’ health and wellbeing in the UK and beyond.”
Sarah Woods, Chief Executive at Help Musicians said: “A career in music can be exhilarating but there are risks too; injuries can be common and with many musicians working as freelancers, this can have a devastating impact on both career development and financial stability. Since 1921, safeguarding musicians’ health has been at the heart of what we do at Help Musicians. That’s why supporting the research behind Symphony of Good Sense has been so crucial to our work to prevent issues which can derail careers. Helping to ensure that musicians have healthy, long lasting careers; bringing us all such joy from their creatively for many decades.”
Dr Sarah Upjohn said: “When Liverpool Philharmonic and Help Musicians approached me to write something that would help physiotherapists who are not used to working with musicians, we decided it had to include some musical terminology to make physiotherapists aware of the sort of language used in the classical music industry. As a result, I might be the first physiotherapist ever to have written a Symphony…Writing this has been a fantastic process and a team effort: from first draft to final document, we have incorporated feedback from insightful, knowledgeable and generous colleagues from around the world. The finished document looks amazing, and importantly, is an absolute goldmine of useful information. Lovely Musician Colleagues: I hope that it helps enable positive change.”
Dr Finola Ryan, Executive Medical Director, British Association for Performing Arts Medicine said: “Bringing together occupational health principles and performing arts medicine, I strongly support these guidelines as part of an orchestras’ health risk management strategy. Although the physical demands of professional playing cannot be completely avoided, these recommendations give orchestras practical tools to implement meaningful risk-reduction strategies and promote early identification of work-related musculoskeletal issues. If orchestras are unable to work with a physiotherapist specialising in performing arts medicine, this detailed guidance for physiotherapists new to working with orchestral musicians provides practical implementation support for orchestra managers and offers valuable resources in supporting musicians’ occupational health and sustainable careers.”
