MED-EL supports hearing impaired musicians to attend one-of-a-kind international music festival
‘Beats of Cochlea’ music event helps people with hearing loss to fulfil their musical dreams
July, 2017—(Kajetany, Poland)—This month, 24 musicians living with hearing loss attended the ‘Beats of Cochlea’ Festival – the 3rd International Music Festival for Children, Youths and Adults with Hearing Disorders. Sponsored by MED-EL, a leading hearing implant provider, the festival celebrates music enthusiasts from around the world who are able to hear and enjoy music with the help of a hearing implant.
This year’s ‘Beats of Cochlea’ Festival highlighted that hearing loss is no longer an obstacle to developing a musical talent or appreciating music. Taking place from 10-14 July at the World Hearing Centre in Kajetany, Poland, the festival was a unique opportunity for those living with hearing loss to share the gift of music with others.
‘Beats of Cochlea’ was created by Polish surgeon Professor Henryk Skarżyński. In 1992 Professor Skarżyński was the first surgeon in Poland to perform cochlear implantation surgery on a hearing impaired patient. Following the success of the inaugural festival in 2015, this one-of-a-kind event continues to demonstrate that, with today’s achievements in modern science and medicine, even those with severe hearing loss can have a passion for music which fulfils their lives.
Hearing implant recipients from countries such as China, Austria, Singapore and Kazakhstan applied to participate. Twenty four qualified to attend the Festival, including Eva Costa aged 39 from Portugal who played the flute and Chingiz Agibaev aged six from Kazakhstan who performed a vocal piece.
This year, the festival adopted a new and improved format, which included vocal and instrumental master classes with professional musicians from around the world. Across the four days the musicians shared their experiences with festival attendees. The event concluded with a gala concert where participants performed the musical pieces they developed during the master classes.
Johanna Pätzold MED-EL’s in house musicologist said: “Beats of Cochlea helps people of all ages from more than two dozen countries fulfil musical dreams that may otherwise not be possible. The unique format of the event enabled attendees to learn from the experts and share the gift of music with others going through similar experiences. As a leading provider of hearing implant solutions, we are proud to support a truly global event that celebrates music and enriches the lives of people living with hearing loss.”
For more information about the ‘Beats of Cochlea’ Festival, visit www.festiwal.ifps.org.pl. To find out more about MED-EL, visit www.medel.com.
About hearing loss
Over 5% of the world’s population – 360 million people – are living with disabling hearing loss (328 million adults and 32 million children).1 Approximately one-third of people over the age of 65 are affected by disabling hearing loss.1 The World Health Organization recommends a range of interventions to improve communication once hearing loss has occurred, including hearing implants.1
About MED-EL
Austria-based MED-EL Medical Electronics is a leading provider of hearing implant systems with 31 offices globally. The family-owned business is one of the pioneers in the industry. The two Austrian scientists Ingeborg and Erwin Hochmair developed the world’s first microelectronic-multichannel cochlear implant, now considered the modern cochlear implant, which was implanted in 1977. The cochlear implant was and remains the first replacement of a human sense, the sense of hearing. In 1990 the Hochmairs laid the foundation for the successful growth of the company when they hired their first employees. To date, the company has grown to more than 1,800 employees around the world.
MED-EL offers the widest range of implantable solutions worldwide to treat various degrees of hearing loss: cochlear and middle ear implant systems, EAS (combined Electric Acoustic Stimulation) hearing implant system and auditory brainstem implants as well as the world´s first active bone conduction implant. In 2017, MED-EL launched ADHEAR, a novel non-surgical bone conduction system, further expanding the number of people who can benefit from innovative hearing technology and reinforcing MED-EL’s mission to overcome hearing loss as a barrier to communication. People in over 115 countries enjoy the gift of hearing with the help of a product from MED-EL. www.medel.com
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1World Health Organization. Development of a new Health Assembly resolution and action plan for prevention of deafness and hearing loss. Available at: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs300/en/. Last accessed: June 2017.
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