Saturday May 19th 2012, 4-5pm.

Part of the series, The Musicians Body.

Presented by Music Of Our Time and supported by BAPAM.

Postgraduate student and violinist, Dr Alison Loram, is looking for student, professional and amateur violinists and viola players for her study.

The study, in collaboration with University College London and Manchester Metropolitan University, aims to understand more about the neuromuscular aspects of playing the violin/viola, and the effects that these may have upon musculoskeletal and other playing-related problems.

Alison believes that violinists and viola players taking part will benefit from the insights gained: “You will have the opportunity to see how your neck and shoulder muscles are involved in holding and playing your instrument, the bodily movements you make, and how these may be optimised to enhance your playing and reduce/prevent muscular tension”.

The study is open to any student, professional or experienced amateur (regardless of whether or not you have playing-related problems), and will involve attending one individual 2-hour session during May, July/August or September.  The confidential session (to be held at Manchester Metropolitan University in Manchester City Centre near to the Royal Northern College of Music), will involve standing and playing your instrument for very short periods whilst your muscular activity and movements are recorded and analysed using ultrasound scanning and movement analysis equipment.  No preparation is required.

Participation is voluntary and you can leave the research at any time. If you agree to participate in the study, you will be given a detailed information sheet and a consent form.

For further details or to sign up for the study, please contact Dr Alison Loram directly by emailing alison@loram8.freeserve.co.uk

Please share this article amongst any family, friends or colleagues you think may be interested in participating.

Note: This research project is not being conducted by BAPAM. The project has official ethics approval from UCL (University College of London) and is covered by UCL’s data protection protocol.

Medical doctor and pianist, Dr Hara Trouli, is looking for advanced students and professional pianists to take part in this project. Dr Trouli explains:

I am a medical doctor and a pianist, currently also a student of the first Masters Degree on Performing Arts Medicine at University College London that was developed by BAPAM (British Association of Performing Arts Medicine) in collaboration with the Royal College of Music and Trinity Laban.  I am conducting research on pianists’ arm tension and other painful conditions under the supervision of Professor Howard Bird who is a UK specialist in performers’ health.

We need to see advanced students or professional pianists who have suffered at some point a medical or painful condition (either diagnosed or not) of the upper limb or the cervical spine (hands, wrist, arms or neck) and analyse their piano playing through a triple method of video/ MIDI/ Electromyography.

The idea is to see whether these conditions show signs on the graphs of muscle tension in the arms and neck (electromyography), velocity, force and articulation of piano playing (MIDI) and on postural images of the hand and arm (video). We are aiming to bridge the technical pianistic accomplishment with the clinical history and to measure parameters that would be reproducible and available to both the pianists and the doctors for evaluation. We are also trying to see whether these parameters can be used in monitoring the progress of the pianist during recovery from a painful condition or an injury, and to also enable the pianist to use this method as biofeedback when they re-train.

The assessment of each pianist lasts 2 hours, it takes place in a studio in North London and travel expenses are covered up to £10.00.   Full information and consent sheets will be given to you before your assessment. We would need to see you in April or May and appointments can be made for any weekday or the weekends. We will also be pleased to share the results of your assessment with you and send you a full report of the recorded images. All information that we will receive from you is kept strictly confidential.

Please contact Dr Trouli directly if you’d like to get involved: haratrouli@googlemail.com  

Photo by David Denicolò

Three Peaks Challenge – Yorkshire

Completed Sunday 15^th April 2012 – within the 12 hour window.

An arduous day on the old ankles and knees as the terrain is varied, rugged and occasionally quite steep. There is also about 5km of “swamp” to wade through between the first and second peak.

The Peaks in order of completion for us were:

Pen-y-Ghent at 694m/2277ft; Whernside 736m/2415ft and Ingleborough 723m/7064ft – in total 2153m. The total altitude of 2153m seems a drop in the ocean compared to the 35km that have to be covered at a fair pace. Ben and I were lucky in that the weather was wonderful. Warm and sunny from 06:00 – a wee bit chilly at 06:00, but very sunny all day.

Right up until  we were about to set foot on the final peak of Ingleborough when we were suddenly bombarded by a terrific storm of hail stones! Ouch.

This must have dazed us, as we lost our way coming down and went nearly 8km of course. So instead of completing in about 9hrs we eventually finished at 11hrs and 33 minutes. Yeh!

We have raised over £1200 so far – so a huge thank you to those who had faith that we would be able to complete – it would be fantastic now that we have hobbled back to London to be able to reach our target so if you share the passion we have for BAPAM please help us reach the target: www.justgiving.com/Ian-MacDonald2

BAPAM Newsletter April 2012

Performing artists work in a highly competitive industry and are driven to achieve perfect results. Stress and anxiety are often in the background when performers present with physical symptoms. In addition, the psychological impact of an injury affecting performance can be tough to deal with. All health care practitioners working with actors, dancers, musicians, singers and other artists will find something here to apply in their practice.

BAPAM training events may be used as part of your CPD portfolio.

The programme for the day covers:

• Diagnosis
• Depression/bipolar
• Anxiety
• Career choices and development
• Performance coaching
• Autogenic Training
• Role play as a therapeutic tool
• Screening tools for psychological problems

Click here for the detailed programme. 

The cost of the day is £65 (Students £35).

Venue: University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT – Closest tube: Warren Street. We will update with the exact room numbers/campus directions as soon as we have confirmation from UCL.

To book your place or for more information please email Office and Clinics Manager, Clare Hicks, via clare@bapam.org.uk

Jennie Morton, osteopath and lecturer & module leader for the UCL/BAPAM Performing Arts Medicine MSc, presents a one-day CPD course for musculoskeletal practitioners:

AN INTRODUCTION TO TREATING THE PERFORMING ARTIST

Sunday April 15th 2012

10.00am – 5.00pm

at

THE BRITISH SCHOOL OF OSTEOPATHY – Berthon Room

275, Borough High Street. London. SE1 1JE

The day will include:

Common injuries in Dancers, Instrumental Musicians, Vocalists & Actors

Assessment, treatment & management approaches for performers

The postural, ergonomic & technique issues faced by performing artists

The environmental challenges for performing artists

7 Hours CPD

Course Fee £85 (Students £70)

Course Tutor:

Jennie Morton BSc (Hons) Osteopathy

UCL Honorary Lecturer & Module Leader for the MSc in Performing Arts Medicine, UCL Division of Surgery & Interventional Science

Osteopath & Lecturer for The British Association for Performing Arts Medicine

Speaker for Dance UK: Healthier Dancer Programme

For further info or to request a booking form, please email jennie@jenniemorton.co.uk

I developed a shoulder injury that temporarily ended my music career and stopped me from being able to play the guitar. It wasn’t until I discovered BAPAM a year later that I found specialists capable of helping me recover.

One of the pieces of advice I received from BAPAM’s physiotherapist was to stay active and keep in good shape. This is why I’ve decided to take part in the Great London Swim 2012.

Can you help support BAPAM by sponsoring Tom? It couldn’t be easier. Take a look at this JustGiving page to make a donation:

Thanks Tom!

Hypnosis Unit UK provide an Introductory Course in Applied Hypnosis. The next course takes place on Saturday 28th April 2012, at UCL Division of Psychology and Language Sciences.

Further information (pdf)

The forthcoming British Voice Association Research Day on Sunday May 20th is all about acoustics. Acoustics of the vocal tract, vowel production, the way the ear processes voice signals plus a presentation on acoustic analysis software in the teaching studio.

Further details and application form here.