Academic Research
The Work
Behind the Music
What happens to a musician when the performance is over and no one is watching? Ray's research explores the private lives of professional musicians — and what they reveal about wellbeing, identity and the cost of excellence.
DegreePhD — University of Chichester. Prior StudyMA — Royal Academy of Music. FellowshipAFHEA. StatusThesis Submitted 2026
The Research
Music, identity & wellbeing
For professional musicians, the relationship between personal wellbeing and public performance is rarely straightforward. Ray's doctoral research — carried out at the University of Chichester in collaboration with the Royal Academy of Music — sits at this intersection, asking questions that the music profession has long left unasked.
Drawing on mixed-methods research with conservatoire musicians, the work explores what musicians do privately to sustain themselves, and why those same practices so often remain hidden from public view. The findings challenge some widely held assumptions about the culture of classical music training — and point toward something more hopeful.
A fuller account of the research, its findings and its implications will be available here soon. Check back for a deeper dive.
Institution
University of Chichester
In Collaboration With
Royal Academy of Music, London
Methodology
Mixed methods — qualitative and quantitative
Focus
Conservatoire musicians, wellbeing interventions, professional identity
Areas of Inquiry
What the research covers
🎻
The Performing Self
How musicians construct and protect their wellbeing.
🧠
Mindfulness & Music
The role of mindfulness-based practice in musician wellbeing,
and why its benefits are so rarely spoken about openly.
🏛️
Conservatoire Culture
What the culture of elite music training asks of its students
and what it might need to change.
Get in Touch
Interested in the research?
For academic enquiries, collaborations or to be notified when the full research overview is published, feel free to get in touch.