Together with the British Association for Performing Arts Medicine (BAPAM) and the Royal Society of Musicians (RSM), we are launching a three-part series on developing and supporting (1) musculoskeletal health, (2) vocal health and (3) mental health among musicians and other performing artists.
All sessions will take into account:
- Vulnerabilities facing students (including those under 18 years old)
- Healthy teaching practice
- General occupational health frameworks
- Reporting and documentation
Session 1: Musculoskeletal Health (MSK)
Date: Tuesday, 10 February 2026
Time: 11:00 – 13:00 (London)
Format: Online via Zoom
Chairs: Aaron Williamon (RCM), Claire Cordeaux (BAPAM), Charlotte Penton-Smith (RSM)
About the MSK session
Topics will include:
- Bidirectional relationship between health and performance
- Risk factors
- The hierarchy of control applied to MSK
- Holistic risk assessment of the teaching environment
- How MSK problems present in teaching
- Typical MSK problems by discipline
- Knowing your scope of practice as a teacher
- Appropriate actions
- Creating a preventative culture
- Q&A, reflection and case studies
Featured speakers
Elodie Gauthier (she/they) is a senior performing arts medicine Physiotherapist working with local charities in Glasgow, privately, and as the BAPAM resident Scottish clinician. She is also a writer, musician & photographer; a Yoga educator; and a researcher in neuroscience & psychology. They enjoy practising and teaching a variety of movement forms, including dance, martial arts, Yoga and Pilates. A proud member of the LGBTQIA+ and neurodivergent communities, she offers safer spaces to her patients and students from all walks of life, whether in clinical or educational settings.
Sarah Upjohn is a physiotherapist and educator, working mainly with instrumental musicians. She has extensive clinical experience in assessing and treating playing-related musculoskeletal injuries in instrumental musicians, and she is passionate about injury prevention, and promoting musculoskeletal wellbeing in musicians. Sarah is the physiotherapist at The Purcell School for Young Musicians and the wellbeing lead for the National Children’s Orchestra of Great Britain. She has a Doctorate of Education from the University of Cambridge.
Questions?
Contact: info@bapam.org.uk
_______
Healthy Conservatoires aims to support environments that promote and enhance the health and wellbeing of performing artists, enabling them to achieve their full potential and to build healthy and sustainable careers. www.HealthyConservatoires.org
We are generously supported by the Royal College of Music (www.rcm.ac.uk) and the Royal Society of Musicians (www.rsmgb.org).