Abstract: During professional life, musicians face demands which can lead them to illnesses and also interrupt their careers. This article covers the musicians’ activities related to music performance, the culture of dedication, the conductor’s control and pain complaints of orchestra violists related to their practice. It suggests that ergonomics can contribute significantly to the understanding of these matters. The results point to strong constraints coming from work organization and emphasize variability throughout physical, cognitive and psychic dimensions. The
increase of pain complaints is associated with the interaction of these elements.

Keywords: music performance, orchestra, pain related to music performance, ergonomics, viola players.

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