About
Welcome to Hypermobile Musician, the resource exploring the intersection of all things hypermobility and music-making! My name is Francesca dePasquale–I am a hypermobile human, professional violinist and educator, and creator of this resource.
Throughout my education and career as a violinist, I have always known two things: I have greater than average range of motion with accompanying flexibility and, beginning with late-teenage years, I often had pain associated with playing. Coming from a family of professional musicians and having worked with excellent teachers, I knew enough to know that, if I experienced pain, something was off in how I was approaching the instrument. However, it took many years to understand that there wasn’t anything explicitly “wrong” with my technique–it wasn’t until later that I discovered the root of these issues was my connective tissue and how it related to my technique, versus my technique itself.
During my conservatory years, I worked with several physical therapists that highlighted my flexibility, lack of strength, and treated the resulting injuries: lactic acid that created adhesions in my wrists from engaging the wrong muscle groups, tension in my neck from upper cervical instability, and a tear in my right supraspinatus tendon from decreased shoulder ball space due to scapular winging, just to name a few. Working with these physical therapists was the first time I heard the term “hypermobile,” though it would be over a decade until I learned about hypermobile Ehlers Danlos Syndrome and was formally diagnosed.
During these years of study and early professional career, I actively strengthened the areas that I knew needed strengthening–with weaker than average connective tissue, I needed to strengthen stabilizing muscles to help keep my joints in place so I could play the violin and generally live my life with less pain. As I also began to teach at the conservatory level, I noticed the prevalence of hypermobility in its various forms amongst the students I worked with, as well as generally within the classical music population. After addressing this personally and professionally as an educator for over a decade, I now aim to help hypermobile musicians make the connections between how their bodies work and how this relates to playing their instruments, as well as increase understanding for educators working with hypermobile students.
Hypermobility can be a huge gift as a musician–flexibility, when managed properly, can allow the musician to literally reach great heights and even play with greater ease. Hypermobile Musician provides access to educational information for absolutely anyone looking to unpack this relationship.
For more information on how to work with me directly, visit coaching to learn more.
Thank you to Lyn Paul Taylor, RPT, Dr. Timothy Hui, DPT, and Michelle Jefferson, PT–your expertise, commitment, and generosity gave me the treatment and tools for navigating hypermobility as a musician. Thank you to Dr. Adam Brown at the Cleveland Clinic for diagnosing me with hEDS, for creating space in the medical community for those with EDS, and for your genuine interest in musicians with hEDS. Thank you to Sarah Johns for your camaraderie and to Chris Jellen for your endless support.
Violinist
Francesca dePasquale
Francesca is a member of the artist roster for Chameleon Arts Ensemble and Manhattan Chamber Players. Additionally, she is the violinist of the Aletheia Piano Trio alongside pianist Fei-Fei and cellist Juliette Herlin.
Francesca is a member of the violin faculty at Oberlin Conservatory of Music as well as the Juilliard School Pre-College Program. Additionally, she is a member of the violin faculty at the Heifetz International Music Institute, where she also serves as Artistic Advisor. dePasquale recently taught as violin faculty for the Perlman Music Program Israel residency and was a masterclass artist for the Starling-DeLay Symposium. Previously, Francesca served as the Starling Fellow teaching assistant to Itzhak Perlman from 2013-2016 and teaching assistant to Catherine Cho from 2013-2018 at the Juilliard School, as well as Visiting Assistant Professor at Oberlin Conservatory of Music during the Fall of 2018. A graduate of the Juilliard and Colburn Schools, Francesca studied with Itzhak Perlman, Catherine Cho, and Robert Lipsett. Previous teachers include Hirono Oka, Charles Parker, and William dePasquale, with additional mentorship from Norman Carol and Arnold Steinhardt.
Described by critics as “scintillating” and celebrated for her “rich, expressive playing” (MusicalAmerica), violinist Francesca dePasquale is the First Prize winner of the 2010 Irving M. Klein International String Competition and recipient of the prestigious 2014-2016 career grant from the Leonore Annenberg Fellowship Fund for the Performing and Visual Arts. Earning her the 2015 Classical Recording Foundation Young Artist Award, her self-titled debut album and accompanying recital tour was praised for “sincerity, intensity” and “individual voice” (Philadelphia Inquirer), and “immaculate and discreet phrasing” (Strad Magazine). Francesca has been featured in Strings magazine and on SiriusXM, WNYC, WQXR, WRTI (Philadelphia), and WFMT (Chicago).