A Common Condition
If you’ve found this homepage, chances are that you’ve been experiencing some strange symptoms recently when playing your instrument.
Perhaps your fingers feel out of control or do unexpected movements, or your embouchure feels awkward or it leaks air on the sides. Maybe your shoulder tenses up when you use your bow, or your feet respond strangely on the pedal.
Any of these frustrating and alarming symptoms can be a sign of Musician’s Focal Dystonia, a neurological motor disorder, experienced by approximately 1% of musicians all over the world.
If you received a diagnosis from a neurologist or talked to colleagues you might have heard that the condition is not curable, and indeed, that is the official verdict.
This is what I was led to believe when I suffered from the condition in 2010, completely losing my flute embouchure in the course of only one week, at the peak of my freelancing career. But I was incredibly stubborn (and also desperate) and I was not prepared to give up just yet. In the following years, I retrained myself to my former level of playing and returned to my career.
About Me
My name is Anna Détári. I was born and raised in Hungary and I play and teach flute professionally. I developed task-specific focal dystonia in my embouchure in 2010 to the point where I couldn't play a single note. I developed a method for recovery over a period of several years, and am now playing as a professional flutist again.
Coaching and scientific background
Soon after my recovery, many musicians suffering from the condition found me and were eager to know how I managed to retrain myself. As I was giving advice to them, I slowly began to develop a therapy which I use to this day. It is partially based on my own recovery, but I also learned a lot on the way from musicians, medical professionals, somatic practitioners, physiotherapists, music psychologists, and former sufferers, refining my ideas with every single step.
I also felt the need to research the condition in a more formal and scientific way, therefore, I completed a Master of Science course at the Royal College of Music in London with distinction, majoring in Performance Psychology. Following that, I obtained a PhD at the University of York with the Arts and Humanities Research Council’s scholarship to continue my research into MFD. Currently, I’m a lecturer in Performance Science at the Royal College of Music and working for the Centre for Performance Science, a collaboration between the RCM and Imperial College, London, continuing my scientific inquiries into risk factors, treatment strategies, and prevention.
My Promise
I offer support, advice and rehabilitation information based on the combination of personal experience and scientific research – and also coaching, if you wish to have a retraining tailored to your specific needs.
You will find short articles about personal views and experiences under ‘Blog’. Within the blog, some articles have been categorised as ‘Science’. Here, there are essays with a more scientific approach and references.
I hope that the information you find on this site is helpful to you!