Janet Horvath

Please click here for a high resolution image for media.Janet, associate principal cello of the Minnesota Orchestra for three decades, is also a soloist, chamber musician, writer and award-winning advocate for injury-prevention. A trailblazer in speaking and writing about the physical stresses experienced by musicians, she has contributed significantly to the well-being, knowledge and health of teachers and students, and of professional and amateur musicians at all levels, genres and disciplines. She received the gold medal in 2009 from the Independent Publishers Awards in the health category. She received the 2001 Performing Arts Medical Association's Richard Lederman Award at the nineteenth Annual Symposium on the Medical Problems of Musicians and Dancers, Aspen, Colorado. Ms. Horvath also received the Minnesota Music Educators Association (MMEA) Distinguished Service Award in 2006 and 2007. She travels widely giving her popular and well received seminars and lectures. She lives in St. Paul MN.

Press Kit

Please click on the link below for  the Playing (Less) Hurt press kit -more information from Hal Leonard, sample pages, and graphics

http://www.halleonardbooks.com/media/00332931.jsp

News, Video Interviews with Janet Horvath, Resources

Click on this link to see several short videos of Janet speaking about her work.

 http://insidetheclassics.myminnesotaorchestra.org/2011/02/everybody-hurts/

 A Sound Ear II

 Click to download the landmark hearing study from the U.K.

The Control Of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 and their impact on Orchestras published by the Association of British Orchestras, February, 2008.
by Alison Wright Reid

Sound Annoyance Research Survey Announced.

Anyone who is disturbed by sounds in thier daily life, or at their workplace is invited to participate.

www.soundannoyance.com/participate.html

Audio Interviews: 

Update on Friday, October 8, 2010 at 10:47 PM by Janet Horvath

Listen to a 30 minute radio interview with Janet Horvath! She speaks in detail about her advocacy for musician's health and about her book on KXMS radio.

http://www.mssu.edu/kxms/horvath.mp3

Update on Saturday, March 26, 2011 at 1:56 PM by Janet Horvath

See and listen to a live audio interview and chat with Janet Horvath and Jonathan Reynolds PT

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/06/03/playing-less-hurt/

How can musicians play with ease and avoid injury?

Making music at any level is a powerful gift. While musicians have endless resources for learning the basics of their instruments and the theory of music, few books have explored the other subtleties and complexities that musicians face in their quest to play with ease and skill. With alarming frequency, musicians—amateur and professional—experience serious injuries. The demands of solitary practice, hectic rehearsal schedules, challenging repertoire, performance pressures, awkward postures and other physical strains have left a trail of injured, hearing-impaired and frustrated musicians who have had few resources to guide them.

Janet's book, Playing (Less) Hurt, is essential for all musicians who want to play better and feel better.

Playing (Less) Hurt, a readable and comprehensive reference work, addresses this need with specific tools to avoid and alleviate injury. Impressively researched, this book is invaluable not only to musicians but also to coaches and medical professionals who work with them. Everyone form orthopedists, neurologists, massage therapists and trainers will benefit from Janet Horvath's coherent account of the physiology and psyche of a practicing musician. Written with knowledge, sympathetic insight, humor and aplomb, Horvath has created an essential guide for all musicians who want to play better and feel better and for anyone concerned with music-making: professional and amateur musicians, teachers and students, doctors and therapists and the managers of student and professional orchestras and schools.

“We musicians seem to be willing to self destruct in order to achieve our goals."

"We are willing to tolerate any obstacle in order to recreate the great masterworks of music with passion, and musicality, only to be thwarted by pain and injury. Our identities are wrapped up in our playing. It is our life not merely a vocation. When an injury occurs, our devastation is such that we feel that we are not only inadequate musicians, we feel undesirable and failures as people. This book is intended for any instrumentalist and those who care for them. Our goal is to play with more ease and to prolong our careers. Unlike other athletes, a musician's career oftentimes lasts decades. In order to be successful and avoid the possibility of injury, we must understand the challenges that may occur. Professional and amateur musicians, teachers and students, classical, jazz and rock musicians and doctors and therapists need to understand the risks, the danger signals and what to do should injury strike,” says Horvath, the Minnesota Orchestra’s Associate Principal Cellist for more than three decades.

In the United States today there are nearly 63 million instrumental musicians, both professional and amateur.

These musicians pursue their passion for making music on a daily basis. Musicians are prepared for the many challenges they face, which include a highly competitive environment, performance anxiety and the isolation and innumerable hours of solitary practice, but only recently have they begun to grapple with the biggest challenge of all: the significant obstacles of physical pain and disability.

In her book, Playing (Less) Hurt, Horvath addresses subjects that are pertinent to any instrumentalistt.

The first chapters of the book address how injuries can arise in the course of one's musical life. The second section goes into considerable medical depth to explain various injuries common to instrumentalists. The next section offers a wide-ranging compendium of preventative and restorative approaches, and finally the last section contains a comprehensive multi-page resource guide.

“This is a practical, usable guide with a wide range of hints,” Janet Horvath explains.

“Teachers will learn how to select an instrument appropriately sized for their students and to learn injury prevention techniques. Performers can take the injury susceptibility quiz to determine their vulnerability. Ms Horvath's book provides a wide compendium of information covering proper posture, ergonomics, good practise habits, warmups, instrument modifications and rehabilitation strategies. Ninety stretches and onstage tricks are drawn in caricature form, whimsically done and approachable for the youngest musician. These very helpful tips for tension reduction and for injury prevention can even be done onstage while performing. There are photos of the latest in instrument modifications, chairs, props and splints.”

Playing (Less) Hurt, is an indispensable resource.

Horvath has compiled an extensive resource list that includes books, videos, articles, and web sites for further information. She has listed where to find ergonomic products, modified instruments and other tools which can increase the comfort of playing a musical instrument. Performing arts medicine facilities and doctors knowledgeable in the field are also listed - all vital information for any musician.

As a professional symphony orchestra musician, a soloist and chamber musician, Horvath has become a trail-blazer in the music world.

Horvath openly speaks and writes about the physical stresses she and many other musicians have experienced. She has contributed importantly to improvements in working conditions and in awareness for musicians’ work-related ailments and their prevention. She has written numerous articles which have appeared in National and International publications including the Strad Magazine, Strings Magazine, The International Musician, The Suzuki Association of Americas Journal and Orthopedics Today. She has been the subject of numerous interviews in newspapers,and musician newsletters. One such interview appeared, in Symphony Magazine in the March/April issue of 2003. An Associated Press article appeared in 2003.

Playing (Less) Hurt, Injury Prevention Seminars, Lectures and Private Consultations, Classes and Consultations

Nationally recognized authority and pioneer in the area of the medical problems of performing artists, Horvath founded the Playing (Less) Hurt Injury Prevention Conferences. She has published articles in professional journals, she has appeared on radio and television programs, and she is in demand for her injury prevention seminars. Ms Horvath has presented seminars at several national conferences, colleges, conservatories, universities and for symphony orchestras including The Utah Symphony, The San Francisco Symphony, The San Francisco Opera, The Boston Symphony, The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra  the International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians (ICSOM) and the New World Symphony (Miami). 

Her book has been used as a textbook at numerous colleges and Ms. Horvath has addressed college classes at McNally Smith College of Music, Winona State University, and Boston Conservatory, the Longy School of Music and Concordia University. She has presented at festivals including at Tanglewood and the Bowdoin International Music Festival and at hospitals including the Artists Health Centre at Toronto's Western Hospital.

In May of 2003 the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra set a precedent as the first major American orchestra  to host her seminars as a mandatory administrative service for musicians using rehearsal time for the presentation. She is also available for master classes and for private consultations. For more information regarding the content, lengths and fees of her presentations click here (Coming Soon)

"I couldn't be more thrilled with how the word is getting out"

"The field of Performing Arts Medicine is growing fast and the new information in the new Hal Leonard edition keeps current with the latest developments. Based on the many letters of thanks I have received from musicians, teachers, students, parents and medical professionals, it is extremely gratifying to see that the book is filling an important need. It does not have to hurt to play. Playing (Less) Hurt has spurred more interest in the field of performing arts medicine and professional orchestras and teachers are becoming more proactive in working to prevent injuries. Conferences and seminars on injury prevention are now springing up all over the country.”

Contacts

For general questions about Playing (Less) Hurt - An Injury Prevention Guide for Musicians, please email Info@playinglesshurt.com.

For inquiries about consulting or seminars with Janet, please email Janet@playinglesshurt.com

twtter.com/playinglesshurt

Publicity is being handled by Jamie Nelson from New Jersey. Her contact information is via telephone at (973) 337-5034 ext 203 or via email at Jnelson@halleonard.com.

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