Annual Symposium 2021
25 September (Saturday), 9am – 12.30pm
Morning Session: Performing Arts Medicine
Dr. Mandy Zhang
Associate Consultant, Sport & Exercise Medicine, Singapore Sport & Exercise Medicine Centre
Introduction to the Performing Arts Medicine Special Interest Group
The Performing Arts Medicine (PAM) special interest group, under Sports Medicine Association Singapore (SMAS), was established in March 2021, with the aim to connect individuals with an interest in PAM. The group aspires to provide an avenue for health providers and educators to discuss, promote, and share safe and effective scientific training concepts relating to the performing artist – the dancer, instrumentalist, and vocalist. The PAM special interest group has since launched three successful webinars and now brings to you this conference: “Emerging Frontiers: Performing Arts & Esports Medicine”. On this larger platform, we seek to collectively discuss patterns of illness afflicting the performing artists and explore prevention and treatment modalities that can help to alleviate these problems.
SPEAKER BIO
Dr. Mandy Zhang graduated from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and obtained post-graduate qualifications as a member of the Royal College of Surgeons (Edinburgh), Master of Medicine in Family Medicine (Singapore), Master of Sports Medicine (Australia), and is a fellow of the Academy of Medicine Singapore.
She chairs the PAM Special Interest Group under SMAS and obtained certification on The Essentials of Performing Arts Medicine. She is a member of the Professional Development Committee in International Association of Dance Medicine and Science (IADMS) and the Performing Arts Medicine Association (PAMA).
Adj. Asst. Prof. Leonard Lim
Consultant, Sport & Exercise Medicine, Singapore Sport & Exercise Medicine Centre
Are Performing Artists, Athletes?
The demands and training required of performing artists can be intense, and every bit as demanding as the professional athlete. Performing artists endure long hours of practice, and many continue to practice even when injured. They compete in challenging environments and can be at risk of career-ending injuries. While athletes often have teams of health professionals readily available to care for them, performing artists are seldom so privileged. Sport & Exercise Medicine professionals can be a valuable resource in applying existing insights gained from the treatment of athletes, to serve performing artists and their unique needs. In this segment, we will discuss the similarities and differences between the performing artist and athlete. We will seek to start a conversation on how we can adapt the science of Sport & Exercise Medicine for the performing artist and how Sport & Exercise Medicine professionals can help to care for this unique population.
SPEAKER BIO
After graduating from the National University of Singapore with MBBS, Dr. Leonard Lim went on to obtain graduate diplomas in Occupational Medicine and Dermatology. He completed his specialist training in Sports Medicine in 2016 after obtaining MMed (Fam Med), and also holds a Master of Sports Medicine (Australia). He is a collegiate member of the College of Family Physicians Singapore, and is a fellow of the Academy of Medicine Singapore.
He has a keen interest in Performance Arts Medicine, especially the health of instrumentalists and has obtained certification on The Essentials of Performing Arts Medicine from Performing Arts Medicine Association (PAMA).
Adj. Asst. Prof. Jason Chia
Senior Consultant & Head, Sports Medicine & Surgery Clinic, Tan Tock Seng Hospital
Dancers as Artistic Athletes
This talk explores the utility and limitations of looking at the management of dance injuries from the perspective of dancers as artistic athletes.
SPEAKER BIO
Dr. Jason Chia graduated from the National University of Singapore (1998) and obtained his post-graduate specialist degree, Master of Sports Medicine from Australia (2002). He has worked as Assistant Director in Singapore Sports Council (Sports Medicine and Research Centre) as well as a Consultant Sports Physician in Changi General Hospital and is currently Head of the Sports Medicine & Surgery Clinic in Tan Tock Seng Hospital.
As a Senior Consultant Sports Physician, Dr. Chia is involved in sports injury management, fitness testing and exercise prescription, weight management, extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT) and gait analysis.
Dr. Chia has also been involved in the writing and publication of a handbook for exercise prescription for general practitioners (Prescribing Exercise: A Handbook for Medical Practitioners) and has served as the President, Vice-President and Honorary Secretary of Sports Medicine Association Singapore. He is a member of the Singapore National Olympic Committee Medical Committee and chairs the ethics review board of the Singapore Sport Institute. Dr. Chia’s areas of clinical research include ESWT and biomechanical research.
Dr. Chia’s current interest is in dance and dance medicine and has trained at the Harkness Center for Dance Injuries under the Health Manpower Development Programme. He also serves on the board of the John Mead Dance Company and T.H.E. Dance Company.
Mr. Frank DeMeglio
Lecturer, Classical Music, School of Contemporary Music, LASALLE College of the Arts
Protecting Keyboard Warriors at the Piano, Computer Keypads & Gaming Controllers
The incidence of injury in modern-day pianists is shockingly high. Career-threatening and -ending injuries have plagued professional piano performers from Robert Schumann to Leon Fleisher to Lang Lang. This need not be the case! In his talk, Mr. DeMeglio will discuss the basic principles of the Taubman Approach and show how the fundamental movement concepts of the technique can prevent and overcome injuries in all keyboard warriors.
SPEAKER BIO
Mr. Frank DeMeglio is a classical music teacher, lecturer and writer. Having taught part-time at LASALLE since 2003, he joined the faculty in 2009. He has also been teaching the Keyboard Literature course for the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music since 2004.
Mr. DeMeglio studied piano at the University of Michigan and earned a Bachelor’s degree in performance. After graduating, he taught with Randy and Nancy Faber, authors of the best-selling Piano Adventures library of piano books. He returned to the University of Michigan for an MBA in marketing in 1992, and was hired by Steinway & Sons as their New York Institutional Sales Representative. While working for Steinway & Sons, part of his duties included managing the famed Steinway Selection Room of concert and studio grand pianos.
Mr. DeMeglio began studying the Taubman Approach in 1986 with Professor Joseph Gurt and Ms. Sheila Paige, as well as in several masterclasses with Dorothy Taubman. In New York City, he continued his study of the Taubman Approach with Edna Golandsky (founder of the Golandsky Institute) and John Bloomfield.
Clin. Assoc. Prof. Peter Lu
Senior Consultant, Otorhinolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery, Changi General Hospital
Voice Damage in the Voice Artist
The use and abuse of voice among performance artists, including singers, stage performers, and even teachers have resulted in problems in the vocal cords that can be transient or permanent. In this segment, Prof. Lu will be discussing some commonly faced problems that voice artists have and how to prevent them.
SPEAKER BIO
Clinical Associate Professor Peter Lu completed his specialist training in Singapore General Hospital and went on to a fellowship at Stanford University Medical Centre in 1994. He joined Changi General Hospital (CGH) in 1997 and was appointed Head of the ENT Division in 2001. He then became Chief of the Department of ENT when it was formed in 2002. Prof. Lu is heavily involved with Clinical Quality and has been serving as CGH’s Chairman for the Medical Audit Committee since 2007.
Prof. Lu has been actively involved in undergraduate and postgraduate education. He has been Chairman of the Residency Advisory Committee for Otolaryngology since 2013 and has been an examiner for the Otolaryngology Exit Examinations for many years and is currently the Deputy Chair of the National Examinations Workgroup for Otorhinolaryngology. He has a special interest in the vocal performer, especially on the effects of prolonged use of voice on vocal cords.
Ms. Lena Ching
Vice Dean, School of Music, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts
What Nerve!
What nerve! – an idiom that probably cannot be further from the truth for performers experiencing or grappling with performance anxiety. Performance anxiety, also known as stage fright, affects even the most accomplished, seasoned, and celebrated musicians. In this session, Ms. Ching will share about performance anxiety commonly experienced by musicians, largely through the lenses of an educator – the symptoms and effects, some common causes, and strategies to deal with them.
SPEAKER BIO
Ms. Lena Ching was appointed Head of Keyboard Studies in Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts’ School of Music in 2015, and then Vice Dean from 2020. An alumna of the Royal College of Music (RCM) in London where she majored in both the Piano and the Harpsichord, she counts herself as one of the privileged beneficiaries of her teachers Yonty Solomon, Phyllis Sellick and Ruth Dyson in the RCM, as well as Victor Doggett during her formative years in Singapore. She has been invited frequently to adjudicate in numerous music and piano competitions, teach in masterclasses and workshops, as well as conduct talks and seminars on music education, particularly in the field of developing musical abilities in students.
Ms. Ching continues to be greatly inspired and enthused by aspiring young musicians from all parts of the world, as she passionately engages in teaching and mentoring students of various age groups, with a special interest in the development of natural abilities, as well as the professional careers of those in the industry.