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Our Mission

SafeStages Alliance is a national coalition dedicated to transforming the classical performing arts. We bring together orchestra musicians, pit musicians, opera singers, ballet dancers, theatre actors, administrators, and advocates to confront systemic challenges of safety, health, and equity. Through partnerships with institutions, along with legal, health, and workplace experts, we design and implement reforms that protect artists, strengthen workplace standards, and foster a culture of accountability and care.

Violin Scrolls

Our Focus Areas

Safety & Ethics 
From harassment prevention to transparent grievance processes. (e.g., harassment prevention, grievance pathways, retaliation protections, and touring safety standards)
 

Health & Wellbeing
Physical and mental health protections for artists. (e.g. injury prevention, return-to-performance policies, hearing health, mental health access, scheduling safeguards, disability accommodations)
 

Equity & Transparency
Fair hiring, representation, and opportunities across all disciplines. (e.g., transparent audition and hiring practices, fair pay and oversight of freelance/guest contracts, bias prevention and inclusive evaluation systems)

What We Do

Policy & Contract Reform
In the founding stages we bring together members and partners to co-create clear, ethical policies, contract clauses and amendments that raise the bar for safety, health, and equity in the performing arts. This is our focus during the founding phase.

Our long-term growth map and vision is to build farther out after this stage and establish a Reform Pilot Program, and then a SafeStages Certification Program.
 
Cross-Discipline Collaboration
Collaboration across the classical arts is core to our mission. Members and partners begin in shared working groups, with professional partnership cohorts joining as capacity grows.

Over time, SafeStages will convene expert roundtables to vet standards before they are released to the field. 

Advocacy & Public Engagement
SafeStages organizes campaigns and events that amplify voices and extend reform beyond institutions. In the founding stage, members and partners may propose or co-host public events.

As we grow, we will expand into public forums, awareness campaigns, and national events that connect reform to cultural change.

SafeStages National Resource Center
The first national resource center for safety, health, and equity in the performing arts. In the founding stage, the Center will feature articles, guides, and resources submitted by members and partners with editorial review.

Over time, it will expand to include templates, sample procedures, case studies, audit tools, and a vetted directory of legal, health, and wellbeing providers.

String Scrolls

Who We Are

Who does SafeStages Alliance Serve? 

Who can be a member? 

Who can be a partner?

We support orchestra musicians, pit musicians, opera singers, ballet dancers, and theatre actors, who work in orchestras, opera, theater, ballet companies, classical music festivals, classical competitions, and training institutions.

As a values-aligned community, our members include:
 

  • Performing Artists — orchestra musicians, freelancers, opera singers, ballet dancers, theatre actors, and pit musicians actively working in the field.
     

  • Early-Career and Student Artists — conservatory students, young professionals, and emerging freelancers navigating entry into the profession.
     

  • Survivors and Advocates — individuals who have faced harassment, retaliation, discrimination, injury, or unsafe conditions and want to inform reform efforts with their voices.
     

  • Educators and Mentors — professors, teachers, coaches, and private instructors shaping the next generation of artists.
     

  • Community Leaders — local arts organizers, community ensemble leaders, festival founders, and cultural advocates who can connect grassroots experiences to broader reform.
     

  • Scholars and researchers — individuals conducting studies on health, equity, labor, or systemic issues in the performing arts who want their findings to inform SafeStages initiatives.
     

  • Writers, journalists, and storytellers — individuals who contribute articles, essays, or case studies that highlight systemic challenges or spotlight solutions in the performing arts.
     

  • Supportive allies — citizen advocates or family members of performers who may not work in the field but believe in advancing safety, health, and equity in the industry.

    SafeStages Alliance is a U.S.-based national coalition, but the issues we address (i.e., safety, health, equity, and accountability in the performing arts) are universal. For international artists, advocates, and organizations who want to share global perspectives and strengthen cross-border solidarity, we offer an International Affiliate Membership.

We partner with organizations, professionals, and consultants committed to improving the conditions in which artists train, work, and perform:
 

Institutional Partners — Performing arts labor unions, and organizations such as orchestra, opera, ballet, and theatre companies, festivals, competitions, higher education institutions with performing arts programs, conservatories and training institutions
 

Professional Partners — For experts who provide technical services and specialized knowledge directly supporting reforms.
 

Allied Partners — Organizations and groups that share our mission and are committed to collaborating on awareness, resource development, and reform initiatives

Why We Exist

Ballet Performance

SafeStages Alliance supports orchestra musicians, pit musicians, opera singers, ballet dancers, and theatre actors, who work in orchestras, opera, theater, ballet companies, classical music festivals, classical competitions, and training institutions.

Whether freelance, tenured, unionized, or independent, every artist deserves a safe, healthy, and equitable workplace. We are here because across the industry, safety, health, and equity are still far from guaranteed. The facts speak for themselves.


Performing Artist Safety

(sexual harassment, silencing, retaliation)

  • In UK music and opera, sexual harassment and abuse are widespread, with high non-reporting rates¹². Lawmakers have called for banning NDAs that silence victims and deter reporting¹².

  • 58% of incidents reported to the Independent Society of Musicians described sexual harassment³.

  • International survey data shows 80% of performing artists — including ballet dancers — experienced sexual harassment in the past two years, most often from men⁴.

  • In theater, 85% of creative industry workers have experienced or witnessed sexual harassment, and 92% have seen or experienced bullying or harassment based on sex or gender⁵.
     

Performing Artist Health and Wellbeing

(physical and mental)

  • Playing-related musculoskeletal disorders affect 39%–87% of professional musicians depending on the study and definition⁶.

  • Professional ballet: 97% of dancers report at least one injury in a season, 65% report illness, and 28% report a mental health problem⁷.

  • Opera singers: Meta-analysis estimates 46% prevalence of self-reported dysphonia⁸; anxiety and depression rates are elevated in multiple studies⁹.

  • Mental health support needs are rising sharply — the British Association for Performing Arts Medicine reports an 86% rise in total clinical consultations since 2019 and a near fourfold increase in mental health consultations¹⁰.

  • Theater actors: Some cohorts show depression in 44% of performers and anxiety in 60%⁹.
     

Performing Artist Inequality and Bias

(gender and racial discrimination, unequal pay and hiring)

  • U.S. orchestras: 79.1% of musicians are White versus 59.4% of the U.S. population; only 4.8% are Black and 2.4% Hispanic or Latinx. Women conductors and music directors remain underrepresented, especially in larger orchestras¹¹.

  • Blind auditions in orchestras increased the probability of women advancing and being hired, raising female representation¹².

  • Ballet: Women choreographed just 27%–32% of works in the largest 150 U.S. companies; the largest companies programmed the fewest¹³. Female artistic directors in the top 50 ballet companies earn about 26% less than men¹⁴.

  • Theater: Actors’ Equity Association data shows persistent hiring and wage gaps by gender and race/ethnicity across contracts¹⁵.​

Theater Group
Harp in orchestra
Opera Singer

References

  1. UK Parliament Women and Equalities Committee. Misogyny in Music: Report of Session 2023–24. London: House of Commons; 2024. Available from: https://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5804/cmselect/cmwomeq/129/report.html

  2. UK Parliament Women and Equalities Committee. Misogyny in Music: Written and Oral Evidence. London: House of Commons; 2024. Available from: https://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5804/cmselect/cmwomeq/129/report.html

  3. Independent Society of Musicians. Dignity at Work 2: Discrimination and Harassment Findings. London: ISM; 2023. Available from: https://www.ism.org/images/files/ISM-Dignity-2-report.pdf

  4. International Federation of Actors. Violence and Harassment in the Workplace in the Audiovisual and Live Performance Sectors. FIA; 2023. Available from: https://fia-actors.com/resources/sexual-harassment/

  5. Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematograph and Theatre Union (Bectu). Creative Industries Harassment Survey. London: Bectu; 2024. Available from: https://bectu.org.uk/news/bectu-calls-on-creative-industries-to-get-behind-independent-standards-authority-as-9-in-10-creative-workers-say-they-have-been-sexually-harassed-at-work

  6. Kok LM, Vlieland TPMV, Fiocco M, Nelissen RG. A systematic review of musculoskeletal problems in musicians. Occup Med (Lond). 2016;66(8):654-662. Available from: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1229223/

  7. Smith TO, Davies L, de Medici A, Hakim AJ, Macchi V, et al. Injury, illness, and mental health in professional ballet: a prospective cohort study. Sports Medicine – Open. 2024;10(53). Available from: https://sportsmedicine-open.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40798-024-00753-1

  8. Byeon H. Meta-analysis on the prevalence of self-reported dysphonia in singers. Journal of Voice. 2020;34(4):620.e1-620.e8. Available from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0892199716304714

  9. Equity UK. Mental Health in the Performing Arts: A Scoping Review. London: Equity; 2022. Available from: https://www.equity.org.uk/media/hwigp3cu/mental-health-report.pdf

  10. British Association for Performing Arts Medicine (BAPAM). Consultation data 2019–2023, as reported in: The Violin Channel. BAPAM Reports Increase in Mental Illness in Performing Arts. 2023. Available from: https://www.theviolinchannel.com/british-association-for-performing-arts-medicine-report-notes-increase-in-mental-illness-in-the-performing-arts-community

  11. League of American Orchestras. Racial/Ethnic and Gender Diversity in the Orchestra Field in 2023. New York: LAO; 2023. Available from: https://americanorchestras.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Racial-Ethnic-and-Gender-Diversity-in-the-Orchestra-Field-in-2023.pdf

  12. Goldin C, Rouse C. Orchestrating impartiality: The impact of “blind” auditions on female musicians. Am Econ Rev. 2000;90(4):715-741. Available from: https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.90.4.715

  13. Dance Data Project. First Look Report 2022–2023: Choreographer Gender Representation. Chicago: DDP; 2023. Available from: https://ddp-wordpress.storage.googleapis.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/13132921/First-Look-Report-2022-2023.pdf

  14. Dance Data Project. Artistic and Executive Compensation Report 2024. Chicago: DDP; 2024. Available from: https://dancedataproject.com/ddp-research/artistic-and-executive-compensation-report-2024/

  15. Actors’ Equity Association. Hiring Bias and Wage Gap Report 2022–2023. New York: AEA; 2023. Available from: https://cdn.actorsequity.org/docs/Hiring%20Bias%20and%20Wage%20Gap%20Report%20-%202022-2023.pdf

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