A truly great musical performance can look effortless, but outside of the musician themselves and their peers, not many people consider the true toll. 

That's where Leslie Donohue comes in at SFCM. As the school's physical therapist, she's available for diagnostic screenings and therapy for students who believe they may have sustained an injury, included with tuition. A former dancer herself who came to the Conservatory as therapist via the San Francisco Ballet, Donohue has been with SFCM since 2017, with over three decades of experience in private practice. 

Donahue said, predictably, most of the injuries and pre-injuries she sees and works to treat and prevent are hand/arm and neck/shoulder maladies. She recommends students avail themselves of the school's Alexander Technique course and points to low-cost PT equipment like foam rollers and bands as stretching and mobility aids that can aid in the prevention of injuries. 

But a different issue—and one she also sees at the ballet—is an unwillingness by musicians to even admit there's a problem in the first place. "Some students seek help right away; other ones will keep it to themselves because they're worried that a teacher will think that they're not up to par or they just don't want anyone to know that they have an injury."

Even minor pains can add up, Donohue continues. "They keep it to themselves for so long that it's kind of chronic. Repetitive motion things in general, if you've had one for years, the likelihood of it resolving completely is pretty low. You're going to be able to mitigate it to a certain degree, but you're probably always going to have to manage it, and we don't want people to get to that place."

Another problem can be if a student has received contradicting instruction from different teachers, which is compounded by the dynamic of the teacher-student relationship. Donohue said at one point in her career, she worked with a musician who was put in the difficult position of leaving a private teacher because their methodology was bad for the shoulders. "I explained what was happening, from a physical therapy perspective—'This position of your elbows is going to create shoulder impingement'—and she was afraid to break it off with her teacher because she liked them so much. I said, you have to make the choice about what's best for you and don't worry about hurting someone's feelings. It just happens."

In addition to yoga and acupuncture, Donohue says musicians aren't exempt from the same general wellness tips everyone should be practicing: "Don't play for like two hours in a row without just taking your hands off the instrument. Doing some stretches. Just walk around, drink some water. Diaphragm breathing, which helps lower back problems a lot, because one of your deep hip flexors attaches to your spine from the front, connected to the diaphragm."

And of course, spending less time on the phone—or at least making sure you're doing so at the right angle. "There's this diagram I usually send to most people: Your head weighs about 10 to 12 pounds when it's in the right position, and then for every degree it's inclined forward, that weight increases, so by the time you're staring down at the angle most people look at their phones from, that's up to 40 or 60 pounds."

Donohue runs a workshop at the beginning of the school year, and encourages students to seek her out; she has equipment in her office at Bowes and can often begin treatment quickly. For more information, read up on the Conservatory's Health and Wellness resources.