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Written by Madison Duenkler for the McGill Daily (Feb 20, 2017)
Visual by Madison Duenkler

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On Monday, February 13, McGill students and members of Montreal鈥檚 music community gathered at the Wirth Music building for a panel discussion, entitled 鈥淢usician鈥檚 Health Throughout a Performing Career.鈥�

Claire Motyer, the founder of the Schulich Musician鈥檚 Health Committee, which organized the event, started the discussion by saying, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think you can really separate emotional, physical, and mental health from each other. We鈥檙e really just trying to get this conversation started, really just wanting to open up about musician鈥檚 health [and] bring some faculty, some alumni, and some current students [together] to share their stories so more people open up and feel comfortable talking about their stories.鈥�

Speaking with The Daily, Motyer said, 鈥淚 really want students, and faculty as well, just to feel more comfortable talking about these issues, creating a dialogue between all of us as a community, and creating more of a sense of a community around these topics.鈥�

Motyer, a U3 Music student and violinist at McGill, has experienced injury herself. 鈥淚t鈥檚 only now really that I鈥檓 realizing this is what I want to do, bring awareness to these issues, and to musicians鈥� health. At first I found it hard to talk about, but now I feel much better being open about it.鈥�

Panelists included Yolanda Bruno, a violinist, Isabelle Cossette, Director at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Music, Media, and Technology, trumpet professor Russell Devuyst, and Ren茅e Yoxon, a jazz vocalist. To start the discussion, each of the panelists introduced themselves.

鈥淚鈥檓 originally from Ottawa, and I鈥檓 a violinist,鈥� said Bruno. 鈥淚蜜桃传媒appl focus on the angle of injury: I鈥檝e had an injury twice before. The first time, I was still young so I brushed over it quite quickly. The second time was quite traumatic. The second time I had to take a significant amount of time off, maybe three to four months off, which felt like an eternity.鈥�

鈥淚 had to cancel many concerts and I had to tell people that I was injured and then the word got out and people knew and that was really scary because as soon as one person knew, then more people knew,鈥� she continued.

Speaking about her recovery process, Bruno explained that she was uncertain how to move forward because she 鈥渞eceived a lot of information from many different people.鈥�

鈥淚t took a long time for me to find my route to recovery,鈥� she said, 鈥渨hich ended up being one-on-one sessions with a Hatha yoga instructor, and acupuncture after doing chiropracting, and lots of running and swimming and lots of different things.鈥�

Another panelist, Isabelle Cossette, the director of the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Music Media and Technology (CIRMMT), was trained as a flute player and got her doctorate in music performance, but decided ultimately to turn to a career in research, focusing on the respiratory mechanics of musicians. Throughout the discussion, she spoke about the importance of accepting and embracing change.

鈥淚鈥檓 not here to necessarily discuss a specific injury that I had while I was performing,鈥� Cossette said. 鈥淚 can make a lot of parallels; I had to go through depressions and that is very similar to someone who gets injured and can鈥檛 play. You find ways to recover. Changes, in fact, can be seen as exciting.鈥�

Devuyst, who played for the Montreal Symphony for twenty-four years, focused on injury in terms of the effects it can have not only on a musician鈥檚 career, but also on their self-confidence.

鈥淚n relation to performance injuries, I鈥檝e been injured three times actually,鈥� he explained. 鈥淚 never thought that I would, you know, you don鈥檛 think of being injured when you鈥檙e eighteen years, you think you鈥檙e infallible [鈥�] you just go crazy, and you just play.鈥�

The first injury Devuyst experienced was partial facial paralysis caused by Ramsay Hunt Syndrome.

鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 play,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t was like going to the dentist and getting novocaine and then trying to play. That鈥檚 the way I felt for a couple of months.鈥�

鈥淐oming back from that was a very arduous thing,鈥� he elaborated, 鈥渂ecause I had two kids, three and five years old, so I just figured okay, my life鈥檚 over. What am I going to do now?鈥�

Outlining the difficulties of recovery, and his mental health during this time, Devuyst explained how he used new hobbies as a coping mechanism.

鈥淚nstead of getting all worried, I just started woodworking,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 got this book on how to make toys [鈥�] I made them for my kids and I said, 鈥楬ey, this is kind of fun.鈥� It took my mind of it.鈥�

Devuyst also spoke about his second accident. 鈥淭he second accident I had, I was riding my bike and [鈥�] I was carrying a bag from the supermarket and the bag got caught in the front wheel and I went over the front handlebars. Even though I had a helmet on, it didn鈥檛 help because I smashed my teeth.鈥�

鈥淚 did everything that a trumpet player鈥檚 not supposed to do and broke my front teeth,鈥� he continued. 鈥淢y teeth were broken, my lips were bleeding like crazy, I was looking at the cement and I saw chips of my teeth, so I took my teeth, put them in my pocket, and I went to the dentist and said, 鈥榞lue them back,鈥� and they鈥檙e still there actually.鈥�

Devuyst stressed the importance of accepting an injury and pacing your recovery. 鈥淭he difficulty in coming back after an injury is that your brain knows where you used to be, but your body doesn鈥檛 respond to that, so you can really hurt yourself if you try to get yourself back into the level [musically] that you were. You have to accept where you are and just start from there and don鈥檛 expect anything鈥�

Yoxon was the last panelist to introduce themselves. 鈥淚鈥檓 a jazz vocalist. I鈥檓 studying currently in the undergraduate program here at McGill and I have chronic pain. I鈥檝e been dealing with chronic pain for about ten years; I鈥檓 almost thirty now and I started experiencing chronic pain symptoms when I was in my late teens and then I started identifying as someone with chronic pain when I was like twenty, twenty-one years old. [鈥�] For me, my pain threshold is much, much lower, so I鈥檓 just in pain all the time, even when there鈥檚 no injury.鈥�

Yoxon continued, 鈥淵our pain system is there to prevent injury, so you feel pain before you become injured, which is why you [are] supposed to stop playing [then]. However, in my case, I鈥檓 feeling pain all the time and I actually have to play through it a little bit. I would just be stopping all the time if I didn鈥檛. So what I鈥檓 [鈥�] dealing with is how to adapt singing for me, even though I鈥檓 going to be injured forever.鈥�

In an interview with The Daily, Yoxon stressed the importance of making music accessible to those with disabilities, by 鈥淸listing] what accessibility features are on their event information.鈥�

They also highlighted the benefits of live broadcasting. 鈥淚 think live broadcasting can not only bring shows to disabled people, [鈥�] live broadcastings brings shows to people who have lower incomes, people who need childcare. Lots of people don鈥檛 have the privilege of going out.鈥�

No茅mie Chemali, an attendee and music student at McGill, has experienced both the physical and mental stress that the panelists discussed. 鈥淲hen I first came to McGill, I was a violin student and there was definitely a huge leap of expectations from what I was used to. I come from a small town in the U.S. and coming here, it鈥檚 a bigger city. I felt like a very small fish in a big pond basically.鈥�

鈥淚鈥檓 glad we have more dialogue going on about musician鈥檚 health, definitely to help people from struggling, the way I did, especially my first two years when I didn鈥檛 have the courage to stand up and say I鈥檓 in pain, I鈥檓 not going to play today,鈥� Chemali added.

The rest of the discussion focused mainly on methods of coping with the physical and emotional stresses of musicianship. The panelists all stressed focusing on one鈥檚 own progress as opposed to competition.

Yoxon said, 鈥淚 feel like in order to succeed at McGill, you need to be like an athlete, and we are, we鈥檙e athletes, but I think that there鈥檚 something to be gained by learning music and not approaching it from the point of athleticism.鈥�

Later in the discussion, they stated, 鈥淲e do have a lot of people who are playing from a place of fear. [鈥�] It helps your mental health to not worry about what other people are thinking.鈥�

Devuyst, similarly, expressed the importance of practicing to improve, not to avoid making mistakes. He also stressed the importance of 鈥渒nowing your body, knowing what you can do with your body, how far you can go.鈥�