The inherent challenges in creative musical performance in a paediatric hospital setting

Abstract

The paper investigates the challenges that musicians face when playing in a paediatric hospital, drawing on case study evidence from a long-standing programme in Italy. The research focussed on identifying: (i) the inherent challenges of being a performer in a hospital; and (ii) the professional characteristics of the musicians who perform in hospitals. As part of a wider, cross-cultural study, musicians (N = 8) were asked to report their (i) physical and (ii) psychological perceptions, before and after their musical performance in the hospital across four weeks. Interview data were analyzed according to content analysis and were informed by grounded theory. Results suggest that performing in a hospital setting is particularly demanding psychologically and emotionally where the nature of the musicians’ role requires them to improvise (i) as part of their normal performance practice, seeking active collaboration by the patient, and (ii) environmentally, in relation to changes in the medical condition of their client/patient/audience. The results are also explained in terms of inherent tensions in a professional musical identity that requires expert performance in a clinical setting.

Professional identities and motivations of musicians playing in healthcare settings: Cross-cultural evidence from UK and Italy

“…The theme of “burnout” emerged especially from the Italian musicians who were performing on a regular basis in the same paediatric hospital, where they were directly involved with children, carers and where they reported experiencing stress and witnessing the suffering in the hospital (Preti & Welch, 2012b). However, it was the intensity of these relationships that enabled the musicians to forget the negative aspects of their job and kept them motivated to go back to the hospital.…”

“…In their position paper, they provide some preliminary guidelines for the professionalization of “arts and health” performers, based on the journey that music therapy, as a discipline, has had to undergo in the past 60 years. They also highlight some of the differences existing between musicians and music therapists working in the same settings (Preti & Welch, 2004, 2011, 2012b).…”

“…In nursing research, for example, Ohlen and Segesten (1998) maintain that professional identity is viewed by nurses as an integral part of their personal identity, something that is also common to the musicians playing in hospitals (Preti & Welch, 2012b). Furthermore, they suggest that, in the context of nursing practice, the development of professional identity is a process that involves the personal motivating force which consists of will, insight and ability (Lindstrom, 1983).…”

Perspectives of a musical intervention: A phenomenological approach to composers and adolescents in collaboration

“…The results aligned with musicology and developmental literature. As found by Preti and Welch (2012), composers were sensitive to the emotions and clinical atmosphere in hospitals, informing the compositions' weight of purpose. While Preti and Welch would encourage composers to gain first-hand experience, composers and adolescents alike found discomfort in their interaction, feeling disoriented or out-ofplace.…”

“…In health-care environments, musicians have been creating safe spaces for musical expression and tension relief, largely through live performances in hospital waiting areas and wards (Preti & Welch, 2012). However, Preti and Welch made clear the need for composers to be familiar with, sensory stimulation experienced by the demographic first-hand (2012).…”