There are intricate and complex relationships between music, health, and wellbeing. The power of music to ‘heal’, or at least contribute positively to health and wellbeing, has been thoroughly documented and loudly celebrated. What needs more recognition is the potential for music and associated activities to cause harm (see Cheng, 2019), particularly the paradoxical situation in which music-making that brings benefits to others can have negative effects on the health and wellbeing of the musicians making the music (Musgrave, 2022). In the relational work of community music, facilitators are often negotiating complex situations of difference, conflict, and change: whilst rewarding, this work can come at a cost to their own health and well-being. In their 2020 report Can Music Make You Sick? Measuring the Price of Musical Ambition Musgrave and Gross state that ‘making music is therapeutic, but making a career from it is traumatic’ (p.123). Performing Arts Medicine (PAM) specialists have spent five decades documenting the myriad hazards that musicians may encounter, including those affecting psychological wellbeing and physical vocal, hearing, musculoskeletal, visual, dental, and dermatological health. As Musicians’ Health and Wellbeing (MHW) specialists move towards salutogenic approaches to health and wellbeing (i.e. not just seeking to prevent problems but actively promoting flourishing and seeking the origins of health) we are starting to intersect more closely with those whose work focuses on how music-making contributes positively to health and wellbeing. Therefore, it is of great interest to understand what enables musicians across disciplines and contexts to thrive in their musical activities. PAM research has focused predominantly on professional performing musicians in Western orchestral settings, with an underlying assumption that the term ‘musician’ means someone who performs for a living (for example, see Cardoso et al., 2025 and Schurig et al., 2024). That assumption has begun to be challenged (see Bennett, 2008 for example) and research has started to diversify with greater consideration of the unique challenges affecting musicians in other genres, contexts, and disciplines. For example, researchers have explored the health and wellbeing of music therapists (see seminal work by Gooding, 2018 and citing studies), with particular attention to emotional burnout and psychological wellbeing resulting from the settings that therapists work in and the caring nature of the work. Gooding (2018) concludes that ‘given the risks associated with music therapy practice, more emphasis is needed on music therapists’ health and well-being’ (p.211). Community musicians are performers and facilitators who may be involved in music-making with diverse communities, often in challenging and complex settings: as such, they are likely to be exposed to risks to their health and wellbeing that mirror those known to affect performers and music therapists. Despite this, very little is known about the factors affecting their health and wellbeing in terms of what enables them to flourish and what can act as a barrier to them thriving in their occupational settings. Some individuals (e.g. Nicola Naismith), organisations (e.g. Soundcastle - see Dunster & Perrin, 2025), and projects (e.g. the Artists Care project - see Puttick et al., 2025) are starting to explore what is needed to support community musicians. However, there is still very limited research or representation in discussions within PAM or MHW: one rare exception was Henley’s presentation at the ISME 36th World Conference in Helsinki in 2024. The limited attention on community musicians to date has focused on understanding factors’ affecting their psychological wellbeing (see Sunderland & Bartleet, 2018) with seemingly no published literature on other aspects of community musicians’ health (such as hearing, voice, or musculoskeletal). Building on the CMA pre-conference theme of dialogue, difference, and possibility, this collaborative discussion session seeks to bring together those interested in or already acting to consider, explore, investigate, or actively promote the health and wellbeing of community musicians around the world. The panel consists of some of the individuals known to be working within this area and we will represent the work of others we are aware of who cannot attend in person. During the session we will propose three main questions to the panel and audience in pursuit of discussion, illumination, and mutual learning:What affects the health and wellbeing of community musicians? What enables them to flourish (physically, mentally, or in other ways)? What prevents them from flourishing? How do the work environments of community musicians compare to those of musicians working in other disciplines (therapist, performer, educator) where health and wellbeing has already been explored to at least some extent?How does the education and vocational training of community musicians compare to those of musicians working in other disciplines (therapist, performer, educator) where health and wellbeing has already been explored to at least some extent?What possibilities are there for mutual learning and benefit between community musicians and specialists in MHW and PAM?