About

The idea of an ISME group to address health and wellness for musicians was originally conceived in 2004 and through a number of meetings at ISME world conferences and pre-conference seminars led to the establishment first, of the former Forum for Instrumental and Vocal Teaching in 2008 (today established as the Instrumental and Vocal Music Teaching Commission), and then to the Musicians' Health and Wellness Special Interest Group in 2012. A number of ISME members have been integral in this process including Maravillas Diaz, Judy Thönell, Sylvia Scharzenbach, Gail Berenson and Graham Bartle.

Mission

The mission of the Musicians' Health and Wellness SIG is to provide a forum to enable musicians to learn about and discuss the latest research and tools for their physical and psychological health.

Aim

The aim of the Musicians' Health and Wellness SIG is to develop and disseminate the tools for healthy music skills, to enable musicians to maintain a lifetime of joyful music making.

Activity

The mission of the Musicians' Health and Wellness SIG is achieved through:

• Curating a sequence of world conference presentations designed to disseminate information about prevention, treatment and rehabilitation of a musician's physical and psychological health
• In 2020, this SIG held its first post-conference online seminar for ISME members
• Reaching out to and informing the wider musician community about musicians' health and wellness through the dedicated Facebook group

MHW SIG Members

• Carina Joly, Brazil (MHW SIG Convenor)
• Naomi Norton, UK
• Christos Ioannou, Cyprus
• Lisa Burrell, USA
• Graham Bartle, Australia
• Gail Berenson, USA
• Sylvi Schwarzenbach, Switzerland
• Hara Trouli, Greece, UK

Connect

Click here to contact the Musicians' Health and Wellness convenor, Carina Joly.

Connect with this SIG by joining their Facebook group. You don't need to be an ISME member to join the group. There is also a YouTube playlist on the ISME YouTube channel.