Leadership in the training of 21st century performing artists at the Peabody Institute includes the integration of current scientific knowledge and state-of-the-field multidisciplinary medical care into the foundation of a conservatory education. Peabody’s rich history of professional music training at the highest level coupled with its alliance with some of the world’s best medical care providers and researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine position it to take a leading role in the field of performing arts health through education, clinical care, and research.  

The aims of Peabody’s performance health initiatives are to: 

• Create access to specialized healthcare for musicians and dancers  
• De-stigmatize/de-catastrophize physical and psychological performance health issues 
• Integrate healthcare and science into training to support healthy performance across campus  
• Advance research in performing arts medicine and science-based pedagogy to inform policies and practices within arts training and the arts industry 

To address these needs, Peabody and its partners have developed: 

• Injury Prevention Education 
• Clinical Care for Performing Artists 
• Research Lab 

The statistics are daunting and the needs are great. In musicians, reported rates of playing-related musculoskeletal and neurological disorders (PRMD) range from 39 to 89 percent in professional musicians, 17 to 38 percent in high school musicians, and 67 percent in children. Spearheaded by Peabody faculty and staff, a team of Johns Hopkins educators, researchers, and clinical specialists is building an unprecedented and long overdue transdisciplinary model of healthy education for musicians and dancers. 

Team & Partners

Team

Dr. Sarah Hoover
Dr. Andrea Lasner
Dr. Serap Bastepe-Gray
Rayven Nairn 

Partners

JHRN Performing Arts Therapy
JHM Sports Medicine
JHM Center for Music and Medicine