Musicians suffering for their art

2 October 2013 - Most of Australia's finest musicians are suffering for their art, according to new University of Sydney research. More than 80 percent of 377 professional orchestral musicians surveyed reported having experienced physical pain severe enough to impair their performance. Fifty percent of the musicians reported moderate to severe performance-related anxiety while 32 percent had symptoms of depression. The findings, published in the Psychology of Music online, are based on the first study to examine the relationship between self-reported performance-related pain, performance anxiety, and depression in professional musicians. The research was undertaken by Professor Dianna Kenny of the School of Psychology in the Faculty of Science and Dr Bronwen Ackermann , School of Medical Science. Their study of members of the eight state and opera orchestras in Australia has implications for how best to treat performance-related pain. "The survey found 84 percent of professional classical musicians have experienced pain severe enough to interfere with their performance.