This panel will present a range of perspectives on musicians’ health in vocal and instrumental ensemble settings. Panelists will review key risk factors associated with ensemble music-making, including vocal, hearing, musculoskeletal, and psychological health. Using a biopsychosocial model for health, panelists will make connections between the developmental, experiential, and social dimensions of ensemble participation, including the role that instructors and institutions can play in ensuring safe and healthy ensemble experiences for students. Panelist #1: Chair Despite not being health professionals, ensemble directors should be prepared to address student health challenges ranging from the production of sound, receiving aural stimuli, psychological stressors, and related physical issues. Panelist #1 will discuss some broad work involving psychological challenges for choral ensemble musicians based on recent research. Suggestions for program structuring that results in a positive and healthy audition process, soloist decisions, and rehearsal/performance goals for music majors and non-majors will be discussed, as well as how to prepare for all manners of student mental health challenges. This panelist will also advocate for hearing health with singers and discuss mitigating potential threats to hearing both in the choral ensemble and in music related situations. Panelist #2: Ensemble musicians face unique risk factors associated with static playing postures, stamina and tessitura demands in the repertoire, and repetitive playing and singing tasks. Panelist #2 will discuss the vocal and musculoskeletal risk factors associated with ensemble music-making and suggest how learner-centered and embodied pedagogies can support healthy participation. This panelist will emphasize how the conductor’s leadership approach and corresponding classroom climate can facilitate musician wellness. Relevantly, ensemble conductors face their own health risks that can affect their ability to lead. These relate to hearing exposure in rehearsals and concerts, the need for vocal projection and stamina, the physical demands of conducting, and the psychological stressors associated with the leadership nature of the role, lack of institutional support, and pressures associated with recruitment or career advancement. Panelist #3: Panelist #3 will discuss collaborative music practices within the ensemble and how these practices can impact the emotional and psychological health of all ensemble musicians. Collaborative music experiences offer an alternative to the traditional binary power dynamic found within the large ensemble, often positively influencing member autonomy and self-efficacy. This panelist will discuss specific practices that focus on shared growth, leadership development, and creative decision-making. Participants in this discussion will also explore how university and public-school ensembles can strengthen the mental wellness of their students through building connections and community with member musicians, program stakeholders, and future audiences. Panelist #3: Panelist #3 will discuss anxiety among adolescent students, particularly in performance-based settings like choral ensembles. The middle and high school years are marked by significant developmental changes that can exacerbate feelings of self-doubt, performance anxiety, and social pressures. This panelist will explore how these developmental stages intersect with the experience of anxiety in musical ensembles and provide music educators with evidence-based strategies to support their students including mindfulness, relaxation techniques, and cognitive behavioral approaches. By understanding the unique cognitive, emotional, and social challenges faced by adolescents, educators can foster a more supportive and inclusive environment that helps students thrive both personally and musically. Panelist #5: Panelist #5 will explore the intersections between the social determinants of health (SDOH) and the sociology of music education, highlighting how broader social conditions shape both health and musical learning. Just as the medical field links disparate health outcomes with factors such as economic stability, community support, and cultural context, experiences within musical ensembles are also deeply conditioned by these same forces, resulting in various levels of wellness. Further, different ensembles exist within different cultural boundaries, shaped by both musical and educational traditions, which create complicated sociological implications for health. For example, the wellness concerns and outcomes manifest differently for a gamelan ensemble than a concert band. Panelist #5 will argue that by reflecting on the sociological norms of ensemble participation in a similar manner as the health industry, ensemble directors can both minimize potential risks and expand capacities for healthy ways of being both in and outside of the concert hall. The session will conclude with a question-and-answer component during which attendees can ask specific questions about vocal and instrumental musician health in the ensemble setting. The collective knowledge, experience, and perspectives of the panel members may address the variety of health-related issues and risk factors that ensemble members can exhibit.