Performers as Patients: No Pain, No Gain?

Three out of four performing musicians suffer medical problems serious enough to affect their playing, according to the current edition of the New England Journal of Medicine, released last week. Two out of three play in pain but eight out of 10 willingly accept the pain in order to play better.

Dr. Alan H. Lockwood of the Performing Artists Clinic at the University of Texas Medical School in Houston acknowledges that “the neuromuscular complexity associated with high-level musicianship renders the instrumentalist susceptible to a variety of disabling problems.”

He goes on to cite some responses to a recent questionnaire sent to 2,122 members of the 4,025-member International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians (ICSOM). According to Lockwood, 76% of the 2,122 respondents “reported having had at least one medical problem severe enough to affect performance,” with another 36% reporting up to four severe problems.

In one study, Lockwood says, interviews with 485 members from eight different symphony orchestras showed that 64% of those players suffered from “painful overuse syndromes.” He goes on to say that “similar data have been reported by others.”

Psychological stress is another, separate, area of study, Dr. Lockwood states, adding that “About one-fourth of the respondents to the ICSOM questionnaire had performance anxiety, which was a major problem for one in six in that group. About 20% were concerned about their alcohol consumption, and similar numbers were troubled by the use of prescription and nonprescription drugs. depression was present in 17% . . . with 7% indicating that is was a severe problem.”

Referring to discussions in the media of these issues in the past decade, after well-known performers like pianists Gary Graffman and Leon Fleisher went public with their problems, Lockwood said that peformers are seeking treatment sooner:

“In my own practice, it is common for professionals and conservatory students to seek help after a week of symptoms or to telephone on the day symptoms begin. This change is probably the result of a number of factors, including a recognition that pain is not a normal part of making music, an increased awareness of the frequency and type of problems that affect musicians, and possibly, the publicity accorded to a number of prominent musicians with medical problems . . . “

Referring to one of his own studies, Lockwood says, “Among all respondents, nearly 80% indicated that pain was acceptable in their attempts to overcome technical problems. This high incidence of problems and the prevalence of the ‘no pain, no gain’ philosophy strongly suggest that changes are needed in the teaching of music. . . .”

He concludes, “It would be irresponsible for a football coach to ignore physical conditioning. The same may be true in music pedagogy.”

JOB OPENINGS: Just posted, in Overture, the monthly of the Musicians Union, is the position of music director/conductor of the Santa Monica Symphony. After seven years with the orchestra, Yehuda Gilad, who conducts other orchestras in California and New Jersey, and holds teaching posts as well, will step down at the end of this season. Interested candidates should contact Santa Monica Symphony Assn., P.O. Box 3101, Santa Monica CA 90403. The duties of the job, by the way, include more than conducting the five concerts per season the orchestra puts on in Santa Monica Civic Auditorium; the music director is expected to lead weekly, as well as final, rehearsals, plus concerts. . . . In the meantime, the announcement of the next Long Beach Symphony concert, at which Jon Robertson, another candidate for the job of music director, will conduct, on Feb. 11, has arrived. That informative missile says that Jon is “pronounced ‘yawn.’ ” Funny--we thought it was pronounced “yon.”

AT THE KEYBOARD: Contemporary music specialist Alan Feinberg plays a recital devoted to piano music by J.S. Bach, Charles Wuorinen, Javanshir Kuliyev, Robert Helps and Roger Sessions, Tuesday night at 8 in the Gerald Daniel Recital Hall at Cal State Long Beach. . . . Another American pianist, Richard Goode, appears here this week. In the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion at the Music Center, Monday night, Goode gives a Beethoven recital comprising four sonatas: the one in G, Opus 31, No. 1; the E-flat, called “Das Lebewohl,” Opus 81a; Opus 101, in A, and the final Sonata, in C minor, Opus 111. . . . Harpsichordist Jennifer Paul plays 15 sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti on the noontime concerts of the Dame Myra Hess series, Wednesday at 12:15 p.m. at the Transamerica Auditorium, 1150 S. Olive St., downtown. . . . And Richard Grayson, who gives annual performances of keyboard improvisation and live electronic music at Occidental College, where he teaches, takes his specialties out to (“Little”) Bridges Hall of Music at the Claremont Colleges, Feb. 10 at 8 p.m.

COMPOSERS: Roger Bourland, whose horn trio was given a premiere performance on Pacific Serenades last week, has received other recent commissions. For a consortium of commissioners, Bourland will write a viola sonata to be given first performances by Walter Trampler in New York, James Dunham in Philadelphia and Marcus Thompson in Boston. On a matching grant from IBM, the composer is writing what he describes as “a multi-media tryptich-opera” about Jacqueline Onassis, Andy Warhol and the Dalai Lama. And, on a co-commission from the San Francisco Conservatory and the department of music of the University of Chicago, Bourland is writing “Rossetti Waltzes” for chorus and piano. . . . Called by one musician, “the greatest composer of synagogue music,” David Nowakowsky (1848-1921) was choirmaster of the Brody Synagogue in Odessa, Russia, from 1869 until his death. Some of his music, now being revived through the efforts of the foundationbearing his name, will be heard at a concert, Tuesday night at 8 at the Stephen S. Wise Temple, 15500 Stephen S. Wise Drive, in Bel-Air. Appearing at this event will be Cantor David Lefkowitz of the Park Avenue Synagogue in New York City, Cantor Nathan Lam of the Wise Temple, and a choir and orchestra. . . . Paul Pisk, Elie Siegmeister and Nicolas Slonimsky will be the honorees at the annual awards luncheon of the National Association of Composers/USA, Feb. 18 at USC. For information: (213) 541-8213.