Creating together: Musicians’ descriptions of relational aspects of their profession

Previous research suggests that making music together has a positive effect on wellbeing. In contrast, research focussed on professional musicians indicates they experience higher than general population average rates of anxiety and depression symptoms. In addition, despite the creative process of ensemble music-making being a joint endeavour, current approaches to addressing mental wellbeing largely focus on self-reported physical and psychological symptoms and suggest individual solutions. In response, the aim of this research is to understand how professional orchestral musicians themselves perceive mental wellbeing (both their own and that of other musicians they know), with a particular focus on relational aspects. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 musicians from full-time professional orchestras across Australia and were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. This study contributes to knowledge about wellbeing for professional orchestral musicians by demonstrating a range of relational issues and how they impact the individual wellbeing of musicians both positively and negatively. In particular, the interconnectedness of experience and the impact of close, longstanding work relationships are discussed, as well as the contrast between experiences of secrecy and open communication.