Project Overview
The annual rate of injury among musicians is comparatively high relative to other professions, an estimate of 37% in musicians for example, compared to 13.7% in nursing/care facilities and 9% in fields such as police protection (OSHA, 2016). Further, lifetime prevalence of musician injury has been reported to be as high as 93% (Kok et al., 2016). It is widely thought that injury rates among musicians are related both to the repetitive physical loads on the body and aspects related to the demands of playing a particular instrument. Similar to sport, the region of injury
correlates with the particular physical demands which are different for a flutist than a pianist, for example. Despite growing awareness of issues particular to musicians’ health, diagnosis and treatment remains generalized and largely experimental, lacking identification of specific risk factors associated with injury and performance decrement. The purpose of this project is to investigate potential correlates among musicians’ self-reported pain/injury, physical assessment, and video analysis of performance to identify risk factors that can inform musicians’ practice and training to promote development of healthy playing habits and injury mitigation while also improving the knowledge base related to musicians’ health.
The Lougheed Center for Applied Learning is literally changing the course of students' careers by facilitating student interest and inquiry through the support of Kilmer Faculty Labs, funding that is facilitating momentum toward a paradigm shift in the world of performance science.
Assistant Professor: Functional Keyboard, Crane School of Music
Faculty Bio
With one foot firmly planted in the arts and the other in the sciences, Dr. Lipke-Perry's training includes degrees in piano performance, neurophysiology, and mathematics. Her teaching experience includes the gamut of courses related to piano performance, literature and pedagogy as well as Motor Learning and Psychology of Music. Her research is focused on multi-modal assessment of musician performance leveraging digital motion capture technology, eye tracking, electromyography and MIDI to facilitate healthy performance and supporting pedagogical materials.
Student
- Emily Vierno
"I learned so much about musicians and how vital injury prevention is in their profession. I was unsure how my knowledge and education as an exercise science student related to musicians and how they would be a demographic I could possibly work with in my future career. After learning more about this profession, I learned how prevalent injury is and how many of their careers end due to injury. Because of this, I learned how important it is for this population to work with physical therapists, occupational therapists, athletic trainers and other healthcare professionals to help prevent injury and increase the longevity of their careers. This work piqued my interest and influenced my future career path.
I changed plans and am currently pursuing a master's degree in athletic training with the goal of becoming certified through the Performing Arts Medicine Association and working with performing artists. I would not have known about this career path if it hadn't been for this opportunity to do this work, and I am grateful to have had this experience because I have discovered something that I am truly interested in."
Questions?
Students interested in participating in this project can contact Dr. Tracy Lipke-Perry at lipkeptd@potsdam.edu or (315) 267-2441.