Orchestral musicians and the art of relationships

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5965/2525530410022025e0202

Keywords:

Orchestra, Musicians, Subjective success, interpersonal relationships, musical work

Abstract

This article investigates the interpersonal relationships experienced in the daily lives of Brazilian orchestra musicians and their connections with different forms of subjective perception of success. The research adopts a sequential mixed method, with the application of a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. The qualitative analysis, based on thematic axes, reveals tensions between cooperation and competition, hierarchy and autonomy, suffering and fulfillment. The participants' statements show that institutional and relational conditions directly impact the work experience and the meanings attributed to a musical career. The study contributes to the understanding of the orchestral field as a space for symbolic, affective, and political negotiation, in which success is experienced in a plural and relational way.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Mariana Bergsten Mendes Felix, Universidade de São Paulo

Doutorado em andamento em Administração (USP). Mestrado em Música, DePaul University, Estados Unidos. Integrante da Orquestra Sinfônica da USP desde 2008. É professora da FAAM, nas disciplinas de fagote e música de câmara.

Tania Casado, Universidade de São Paulo

Professora Titular da FEA/USP. Psicóloga, com Mestrado em Administração (USP) em 1993, Doutorado em Administração (USP) em 1998 e Livre-Docência pela FEA/USP em 2019.

Fábio Cury, Universidade de São Paulo

Professor do Departamento de Música da ECA-USP desde 2002. Graduação em Bacharelado em Fagote (Unicamp), Mestrado em Música (Unicamp) e Doutorado em Música (USP).

References

ALVARENGA, E.C.; OLIVEIRA, P. T. R.; LIMA, M. L. C. A coragem de ser músico: prazer e sofrimento no trabalho em orquestras sinfônicas. Revista de Psicologia, Fortaleza, v. 9, n. 2, p. 215–223, 2018.

BOMFIM, C. C. A música orquestral, a metrópole e o mercado de trabalho (Tese de Doutorado). Instituto de Artes, UNESP, 2017.

BRINKMANN, S.; KVALE, S. Doing interviews. London, UK: Sage, 2018. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4135/9781529716665

CARTER, T.; LEVI, E. (Org.). The Cambridge companion to the orchestra. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CCOL9780521806589.002

CHARMAZ, K. Constructing grounded theory. London, UK: Sage Publications, 2006.

CLARKE, E. F. What’s going on: Music, Psychology and Ecological Theory. CLAYTON, M.; HERBERT, T.; MIDDLETON, R. (Orgs.), The Cultural Study of Music, 2nd ed., p. 333 342). New York, NY: Routledge, 2012.

COOK, N. Entre o processo e o produto: Música enquanto performance. (F. Borém, trad.). Per Musi, 14, 5–22, 2006 https://periodicos.ufmg.br/index.php/permusi/issue/archive Recuperado de https://periodicos.ufmg.br/index.php/permusi/issue/archive DOI: https://doi.org/10.35699/2317-6377.2006.55216

COTTRELL, S. Professional music-making in London: ethnography and experience. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2004.

COTTRELL, S. Musical performance in the twentieth century and beyond: an overview. LAWSON, C.; STOWELL, R. (Orgs.), The Cambridge History of Musical Performance. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2012. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CHOL9780521896115.029

CRESWELL, J. W. Research design: qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. 2. ed. Thousand Oaks: Sage, 2003.

CRESWELL, J. W.; CLARK, V. L. P. Designing and conducting mixed methods research. 3. ed. Thousand Oaks: Sage, 2018.

GAUNT, H.; DOBSON, M. C. Orchestras as “ensembles of possibility”: Understanding the experience of orchestral musicians through the lens of communities of practice. Mind, Culture, and Activity, 21(4), 2014. doi: 10.1080/10749039.2014.951900 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10749039.2014.951900

GIBBS, G. Análise de dados qualitativos. Porto Alegre, RS: Artmed, 2009.

GILLINSON, C.; VAUGHAN, J. The life of an orchestral musician. In C. Lawson (Org.), The Cambridge companion to the orchestra. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2003. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CCOL9780521806589.012

GUNZ, H.; HESLIN, P. A. Reconceptualizing career success. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 26(2), 105–111, 2005. doi: 10.1002/job.300 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/job.300

HOLST, B. S. et al. Depression and performance anxiety in professional orchestra musicians. Medical Problems of Performing Artists, v. 27, n. 2, p. 91–97, 2012.

HUGHES, E. C. Men and their work. Glencoe: Free Press, 1958.

KENNY, D. T.; DRISCOLL, T.; ACKERMANN, B. Psychological well-being in professional orchestral musicians in Australia: a descriptive population study. Psychology of Music, v. 42, n. 2, p. 210–232, 2014. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0305735612463950

KOIVUNEN, N.; WENNES, G. Show us the sound! Aesthetic leadership of symphony orchestra conductors. Leadership, v. 7, n. 1, p. 51–71, 2011. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1742715010386865

KRONEMBERGER, G. A. OPES, uma Sociologia dos músicos de orquestra (Dissertação de Mestrado). Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, 2014.

LAGE, M. C.; GODOY, A. S. O uso do computador na análise de dados qualitativos: questões emergentes. RAM. Revista de Administração Mackenzie, 9(4), 75–98, 2008. doi: 10.1590/s1678-69712008000400006 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1590/S1678-69712008000400006

LEHMANN, B. L’orchestre dans tous ses éclats: enquête sur la condition professionnelle des musiciens d’orchestre. Paris: La Documentation Française, 2012.

O’NEILL, S.; SLOBODA, J. Responding to performance: Listeners and audiences. RINK, J.; GAUNT, H.; WILLIAMON, A. (Orgs.) Musicians in the making: pathways to creative performance (p. 186–205). New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2017.

SAWYER, K. R. Musical performance as collaborative practice. BARRET, M. (Org.), Collaborative creative thought and practice in music. Surrey, UK: Ashgate, 2014.

SEGNINI, L. R. P. Os músicos e seu trabalho: Diferenças de gênero e raça. Tempo Social, 26(1), 75–86, 2014.. doi: 10.1590/S0103-20702014000100006

SENNETT, R. Juntos: os rituais, os prazeres e a política da cooperação. Rio de Janeiro: Record, 2012.

SMALL, C. Musicking: the meanings of performing and listening. Middletown: Wesleyan University Press, 1998.

SPITZER, J.; ZASLAW, N. The birth of the orchestra: history of an institution, 1650–1815. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198164340.001.0001

SPURK, D.; HIRSCHI, A.; WANG, M.; VALERO, D.; KAUFFELD, S. Latent profile analysis: A review and “how to” guide of its application within vocational behavior research. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 120, 103445, 2020. doi: 10.1016/j.jvb.2020.103445 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2020.103445

STRUBLER, D. C.; EVANGELISTA, R. Maestro Neeme Jarvi on Leadership. Journal of Management Inquiry, 18(2), 119–121, 2009. doi: 10.1177/1056492609333413 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1056492609333413

Downloads

Published

2025-08-05

How to Cite

FELIX, Mariana Bergsten Mendes; CASADO, Tania; CURY, Fábio. Orchestral musicians and the art of relationships. Orfeu, Florianópolis, v. 10, n. 2, p. e0202, 2025. DOI: 10.5965/2525530410022025e0202. Disponível em: https://revistas.udesc.br/index.php/orfeu/article/view/25359. Acesso em: 7 nov. 2025.

Issue

Vol. 10 No. 2 (2025): Special Issue: Border Musics

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Mariana Bergsten Mendes Félix, Tania Casado, Fábio Cury

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Authors who submit their manuscripts to be published in this journal agree to the following terms:

1.    Authors retain the copyright and grant to the journal the right of first publication, whilst simultaneously permitting their work to be licensed under the Creative Commons License Attribution, which allows the sharing of work with recognition of the authorship and initial publication in this journal.

2.    Contributions in this journal are open access; this means they are based in free use, and non-commercial applications.