She saved musicians’ lives

We regret to report the death of Dr Alice Brandfonbrener, a pioneer in the rehabilitation of injured performers. She was 84.

After going to Aspen as a physician in 1978, she held a 1983 seminar there on performing arts medicine. Ever since, musicians beat a track to her Chicago door. She was director, from 1988, of the Medical Program for Performing Artists at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. “If someone comes in with a sprained wrist, I don’t just look at the wrist; I study the whole patient,” she said. “A musician’s medical condition frequently stems from multiple sources, including technique, physical conditioning, the repertoire, the instrument — even their emotional state.”.

Alice will be universally missed. If you have an Alice experience, do share.

Here’s a recent interview.

Video Interview: Alice Brandfonbrener from Performing Arts Medicine on Vimeo.