Lived experiences of musicians with pain: an interpretative phenomenological analysis of performance-related pain of professional violinists

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) is to explore how five professional South African violinists make sense of their lived experiences of performance-related pain. The research problem this study investigates is multifaceted. It includes examining the career implications for violinists who play despite experiencing pain and are afraid to speak up because of the stigma associated with being injured. There is a lack of support and understanding from fellow musicians, doctors and other specialists when faced with diagnosing injuries and recommending treatment options. In South Africa, there is limited research on these aspects. In this IPA study, the data were collected through semi-structured interviews with five professional South African violinists with performance-related pain.

The six subordinate themes that emerged from the data analysis were: (i) Playing through the pain; (ii) Lack of identity; (iii) Depression when unable to play because of pain; (iv) Growth through faith and spirituality; (v) Support and lack of support from family, friends, management, doctors and other experts; and (vi) Lack of awareness and understanding of performance-related injuries. Heightened awareness of musicians’ lived experience of performance-related pain could bring about much-needed change and support advocacy for pain-prevention initiatives and assistance for violinists.

KEYWORDS:

• Performance-related pain and violinists
• pain experiences of violinists
• interpretative phenomenological analysis
• meaning-making
• faith and spirituality

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.

Notes on contributors

Sharon de Kock

Sharon de Kock, started playing the violin in 1985 as a student of Louis van der Watt and later continued her studies with Jürgen Schwietering and Gina Beukes. Sharon left South Africa to study in the USA at the age of 17 and is a BMus (magna cum laude) and MMus graduate of the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati (CCM) and DMus graduate at North-West University. She studied under the well-known concert violinist Chee-Yun Kim, as well as with Kurt Sassmannshaus, Piotr Milewski and Dorothy DeLay and worked with members of the Amernet Quartet, La Salle Quartet and the Tokyo Quartet. After playing in orchestras and teaching in Mexico and Costa Rica, Sharon returned to South Africa in 2006. She has been a violinist in the Odeion String Quartet and violin lecturer at the University of the Free State since 2008.

Liesl van der Merwe

Liesl van der Merwe is a professor in the School of Music and MASARA at the North-West University, South Africa. Her research interests lie in the fields of music and well-being, positive psychology, music and spirituality, Dalcroze Eurhythmics, and lived musical experiences. Liesl supervises qualitative postgraduate music studies in the field of music education and also teaches research methodology, music education and bassoon. She has published articles in high-impact journals. Currently, Liesl is a National Research Foundation (NRF) rated researcher. She completed the research project: Social Cohesion Through Community Music Engagement in South African Higher Music Education. She was one of the volume editors of the Peter Lang book: Ritualised Belonging: Musicing and Spirituality in the South African Context. Liesl is on the steering and scientific committees of the Music, Spirituality and Wellbeing International Network (MSW) and vice-chair of the scientific committee of The International Conference of Dalcroze Studies (ICDS). She is a guest editor of a special edition on positive psychology and music education in the International Journal of Education and the Arts. She also performs as a bassoonist in chamber music ensembles and is the conductor of the North-West Youth Orchestra.

Catrien Wentink

Catrien Wentink completed her DMus degree in piano performance at the North-West University in 2017 under the guidance of Dr Truida van der Walt. Her focus was on ensemble music and piano accompaniment. In 2009, after postgraduate studies in Youngstown, USA, with Caroline Oltmanns, she received the ABRSM performance licentiate (solo piano) (LRSM) and the Unisa performance licentiate (two pianos) with distinction and was invited to participate in the Unisa bursary winner’s competition. She has been a member of Trio Joie de Vivre since 2018, and together they have performed at numerous festivals. She performs regularly as chamber musician and accompanist. She has worked at the NWU for the past ten years. First, as a lecturer in music education at the Faculty of Education, before joining the School of Music as senior lecturer in music theory in 2016. Her research focus is on Dalcroze Eurhythmics and music theory analysis. Her current research has been on the application of Dalcroze Eurhythmics in different settings (music ensembles, education on tertiary level, and the elderly). She is also actively involved in community work at a care facility for the elderly since 2018.