BACKGROUND: While there has been a growing interest in the performance-related health problems of performing artists over the last forty years, research on conductors has scarcely begun, and these musicians seldom benefit from the same access to specialized health-related resources as their instrumental musician counterparts. Most reputable conducting texts in their early chapters insist on the importance of a conductor’s stance or ‘availability,’ which is referred to as one’s ability to move naturally and without tension or pain (Haithcock et al., 2020). The impediment to a conductor’s movement availability by tension or pain thus results in a reduction in their capacity to communicate meaningfully and efficiently through gesture and movement, limiting their ability to express their artistic ideas and ultimately impacting the sustainability of their careers and reducing their quality of life. Exercise-based interventions have been found effective in reducing reported pain, improving posture and physical competence in musicians (Ajidahun et al., 2019), but no published studies have targeted conductors. Therefore, tailored exercise interventions for conductors are needed and would benefit their movement availability. THIS PRESENTATION will include an overview of the available literature on the prevalence of performance-related pain (PRP) in conductors and its impact on the ability to communicate meaningfully and musically through gesture and movement. The literature review examines what we know about the prevalence of PRP in musicians, what limited data we currently have about PRP in conductors, the efficacy of pre-performance intervention in preventing or managing PRP, and the correlation between movement availability and expressive conducting. Ethical review is currently underway to begin collecting data on the prevalence and nature of PRP among conductors using a validated tool, the Performance-related Pain Among Musicians (PPAM) Questionnaire developed by Zão et al. (2024), with preliminary findings available by Spring 2026. At this presentation I will assess trends in the prevalence of PRP by conductor type (wind, orchestral, choral), age, experience, and level of ensemble (secondary, university, community, professional, etc.). CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR MUSIC EDUCATION: There has been a shift in conducting pedagogy over the last decade, focusing more on availability and economy of movement. By gaining a better understanding of trends in PRP in conductors, we will be able to examine shortcomings in conducting pedagogy and extend existing knowledge in performance sciences to address the physical demands of the art of conducting and begin discussing wellness strategies for this subgroup of musicians.