By Sophie Nervlka
Help Musicians UK (HMUK), the British Association for Performing Arts Medicine (BAPAM) and The Musicians Union (MU) will join forces in August to deliver a range of events about self-care as a professional musician.
Each organisation will provide their own specific knowledge and expertise to Health and Wellbeing Month, which is designed to benefit every musician or artist at any stage of their career.
The events held in Glasgow, Manchester, Birmingham, Cardiff and London will be split into two areas: Musicians’ Insights and Workshops. Musicians' Insights is set to be an In Conversation series of events, aimed at raising awareness surrounding key health issues for musicians. Musicians who have dealt with mental or physical health issues previously will be interviewed by HMUK visitors, in order to impart knowledge about the needs of each individual musician, and how they can differ.
Musicians’ Workshops will centre on a number of different self-help events organised by BAPAM practitioners who are well-respected in their fields. The workshops will focus on a range of issues, such as Ways to Beat Stress and Deal with Perfectionism, Vocal Health and Drumming without Pain. The workshops are designed to be helpful for all musicians, no matter what stage of their career they are at. All three organisations recognise the importance of health in musicianship.
Joe Hastings, welfare manager at HMUK, said that musician’s health is "at the forefront of our priorities," whilst Dan Hayhurst, information officer at BAPAM, stated that self-care teaches musicians "essential skills for peak performance throughout a healthy and successful career".
