May Newsletter

Eating disorders, meditation podcasts and entering the video-sphere

Photo by Venetia Jollands

What in the world has been going on?

Hattie

This month was punctuated by a really brilliant trip to America over 10 days for three articles. I met some beautiful new friends and had such a good time just wandering around the cities, drinking coffee and thinking. I certainly feel pulled to travelling when life feels monotonous or stifling, and am still missing the excitement of being somewhere unfamiliar. I’m trying to notice when making a big change in my life is a result of feeling ‘too comfortable’ and whether there are other things I could change before I make a completely life-altering decision…

What I’m currently reading:

Life Together – Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Bonhoeffer was a priest, author and Christian martyr – this book was written in 1939 on the eve of the Second World War and speaks about the difference between Christian and human connection. It’s a bit of a slow read and I keep getting bogged down, but once I understand a concept, I think about it for hours!

Favourite concert/event of the month

The Curtis Opera’s production of Bernstein’s Candide. When a piece of opera is so musically exciting, it doesn’t really matter too much about the production. Even so, this production was really exhilarating and gave me a renewed love for the art form.

Becca

The end of April was ✨ birthday time ✨ so I spent lots of time seeing friends and making trips to the sauna. I also absolutely adored working on ‘These Are The Contents Of My Head’ with Salty Brine at the Soho Theatre, and performing in a stunning concert of Messiaen and Stravinsky with Britten Sinfonia at St George’s Cathedral, Southwark.

What I’m currently reading

In true slow-reader fashion, I’m still going with Ash Sarkar’s Minority Rule, which I would 100% recommend to all. Sarkar very digestibly breaks down narratives on culture wars, and critiques both ends of the political spectrum, particularly about identity politics.

Favourite concert/event of the month

I went to see Stu perform ‘Carnival’ with the Aurora Orchestra at the weekend and was utterly in awe of the musicians’ multi-tasking skills. We’re talking acting, movement, stage management, let alone playing superbly from memory. Catch them on their upcoming tour!

Help support the future of TMDTA

We struggled in silence with our mental health as young people in the classical music industry.

We are fundraising to support the running costs for our podcast and online platform, and to help us take it to the next stage of development.

Please consider giving something, however small, to ensure our beautiful community continues

DONATE

Events

Searching for control – the prevalence of eating disorders in musicians

Thursday 22 May – 6:30pm
Royal Society of Musicians, Fitzroy Square, London
TMDTA x RSM Talk Series

Life as a musician can feel inherently chaotic, unpredictable and out of control. In an effort to find some stability, some turn to food and/or exercise. A UCL study from 2017 showed that 1 in 3 musicians had history of an eating disorder, and yet finding a musician willing to speak about the destructive impact of an ED has been hard.

Opera singer, author and mind behind the Instagram account @brutalrecovery, Lauren McQuistin joins Hattie and Becca to explore her own relationship to food and addiction. Taking us through her experiences with body image on stage, we explore how and why the classical music industry can become a melting pot for disorder.

Join us here!

Musician Peer Support Group

Tuesday 20 May – 8pm – Zoom

Open to members of TMDTA’s Patreon, available to join from £1 a month

A monthly 1hr GROUP video call for musicians of all genres to take part in open discussion

Hattie and/or Becca will be there to facilitate but ultimately it is your space
It is not therapy, though hopefully will offer some togetherness and an opportunity to speak your mind
You do not have to speak - just being there and listening is ok
What is said in the group stays in the group
Over 18s only

Join us here!

Pod News

What have we been up to pod-wise?

Filming our first video podcast episodes! We are moving into the video-sphere and very soon most of our pods will be available on our YouTube! Subscribe now to be notified when an episode is released
Working with Ruth Philips to develop a series of meditations for musicians, marking Mental Health Awareness Month – the first one is already available, see below. A new meditation will be released every Friday in May
Rebecca Franks’ article on the links between mental illness and creativity, which we were interviewed for, will be in the next issue of BBC Music Magazine, out on 15 May

New episodes

90. Lucy Humphris – embracing otherness

We interview trumpet player Lucy Humphris about her journey through music college and the contemporary music scene. We speak about the institutional barriers Lucy and others face as a female brass player with a non-traditional career trajectory, sharing her experiences of feeling "othered" and misunderstood.

From battling expectations of orchestral conformity to navigating the complex landscape of contemporary music, Lucy reveals the personal and professional struggles of forging her own path. She explores themes of identity, resilience, and the often unspoken challenges musicians face when their artistic vision doesn't align with traditional institutional norms. Lucy inspires us with her story, her dedication to artistic integrity, and the way she's found her place in the contemporary music world.

Check out the episode here

92. Meditation for musicians – pre-performance anxiety

A meditation for musicians lead by cellist and mindfulness meditation teacher Ruth Philips for use to calm the mind around stage fright and performance anxiety.

Discover Ruth Philips

Check out the episode here

91. I wasn’t as good at the cello as I thought I was

'On returning from America, I listened back to lots of my old recordings and discovered a paradox: I had no confidence but also thought I deserved more – thought I was better than I really was'.

Hattie sits down to share reflections from her trip to America from health anxiety and Curtis, to self-love and deleting dating apps

Check out the episode here

Classical Strife

What’s depressed us this month?

Hattie

I’m really saddened by the supreme court’s recent ruling, making clear that when looking at the Equality Act that a woman is a biological woman. This means that all trans women are now legally men and all trans men are legally women. Of course, it feels as though rights for trans people has regressed, but also I can see this impacting people’s self-expression outside of the trans community. What happens to more masculine-presenting women? Who is judging these decisions from day-to-day and in what contexts? I can’t see it really providing any clarity, only forcing us into a less tolerant and more judgmental world.

Becca

Pretentiousness. Can we lose pretentiousness from the classical music world and still retain the quality, the sparkle, the awe-inspiring nature of what classical music can be? I’ve had a few instances recently of witnessing barf-worthy pretentiousness, behaviours that would unacceptable in other workplaces, but in classical music these behaviours are ‘quirks’, or even normalised and expected in some circumstances. I understand that pretentiousness stems from a place of insecurity, but do we really need to be so concerned about proving something that we end up creating even more aloofness?

We are listening to…