Beats of Cochlea Marks 10 Years Celebrating Music and Hearing Technology
For the past decade, Beats of Cochlea has continued to provide hearing implant users from around the globe with a platform to showcase their impressive musical, instrumental, and vocal talents to a wide audience. This remarkable festival serves as an annual celebration of music and science for children, youths, and adults with hearing loss. In honor of the 10th anniversary, we celebrated the magic of music and the transformative power of hearing implants at Beats of Cochlea.
![Group photo from Beats of Cochlea](https://blog.medel.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Copy-of-Blogpost-Image-3.png)
Join us in meeting the exceptional and inspirational hearing implant recipients who performed at this event, proving that hearing loss is no barrier to creating sensational music.
Salome Daghundaridze, Singer
Salome is a 13-year-old from Georgia. She loves music so much that she plays five instruments: the salamuri, the panduri, the guitar, the piano and the jembe.
When Salone was 4 months old, her mother found out about her hearing loss. At the age of 1, she got her cochlear implant. This completely changed her life and music became an essential part of it.
I love music, probably because my mom used to sing so many songs for me when I was little. To me, music is the harmony of my heart and spirit. Therefore, I can’t imagine my life without my CI.
![Salome at Beats of Cochlea](https://blog.medel.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Copy-of-Blogpost-Image.png)
Aigerim Tutova, Singer
30-year-old Aigerim captivates audiences with her stunning vocals, despite her hearing loss. Diagnosed in her teens, Aigerim received a cochlear implant at 17 and pursued her dream of singing. She has since performed at numerous festivals, including Beats of Cochlea and Magic Symphony, and now sings professionally at weddings and concerts.
Aigerim is also a passionate advocate for others on their hearing journey, working as a speech therapist and mentor for others with hearing loss. At this year’s event, she was Prof. Skarżyński’s special guest. Prof. Henryk Skarżyński is a world-renowned otolarnygologist who performed the first operation of cochlear implantation in Poland and Central Europe in 1992.
![Aigerim at Beats of Cochlea](https://blog.medel.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Copy-of-Blogpost-Image-6.png)
This is what Aigerim has to say about her cochlear implant:
My CI means everything to me. Hearing with a cochlear implant gives me such joy – you can’t even imagine! It has turned my life around completely.
Anel Mukazhanova, Jetigen Player
Anel is a 16-year-old cochlear implant user and jetigen player from Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan. Anel lost her hearing at the age of 3 and got a cochlear implant a year later. She took her rehabilitation very seriously, and, thanks to her commitment to speech therapy, shows great success in her hearing and speech development.
To further improve her hearing, Anel started attending music school. That’s how music became her passion. At Beats of Cochlea, Anel performed a Kazakh piece on a jetigen, a Kazakh plucked zither.
![Anel](https://blog.medel.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/20240712_BoC10-koncert_1751_Anel-scaled.jpg)
Anel really enjoyed this trip, especially meeting and interacting with other cochlear implant users from different countries. She tested her language skills and, upon returning home, decided to seriously focus on improving her English.
In 2021, Anel participated online and won, but attending the festival in Warsaw in person was a completely different experience. Anel was very impressed by the festival itself, its level, and the judging. She has participated in many competitions, but this format was a first for her.
Matvey Romanovskiy, Saxophonist
Matvey is a 13-year-old saxophone player who lost his hearing when he was only six months old. Fortunately, he did not lose his optimism. Thanks to his cochlear implants, he fell in love with music, especially the saxophone.
Since 2017, Matvey has been attending a music school where he focuses on the saxophone and singing Kazakh, English, and Russian songs. At Beats of Cochlea, he performed “Bumblebee at Weekends” by Irina Shiltzeva.
Here’s what Matvey has to say about the event:
The wonderful atmosphere, such rehearsals, and performances on a stage with so many spectators are something I have never experienced before. It was a significant experience for me and has inspired me to aim for even greater heights!”
![Matvey at Beats of Cochlea](https://blog.medel.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/20240712_BoC10-koncert_1676-scaled.jpg)
Celebrating Musical Talent
Beats of Cochlea continues to prove that hearing loss is no barrier to musical expression. This festival not only provides a platform for showcasing talent but also fosters a supportive and inclusive community where hearing implant users can connect, share, and grow.
Check out the photo gallery below to witness the joy, passion, and talent that filled the air at this year’s Beats of Cochlea!
Photo courtesy of the Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing
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© MED-EL Medical Electronics. All rights reserved. The content on this website is for general informational purposes only and should not be taken as medical advice. Contact your doctor or hearing specialist to learn what type of hearing solution suits your specific needs. Not all products, features, or indications are approved in all countries.
Melvin E Sever
August 05, 2024
I can easily hear and appreciate sounds of music instruments; however, I have great trouble understanding human singing. It is for all intents and purpose almost completely unintelligent. Only if singing is intentionally slower and pronouncement is also intentionally clear. only then can I partially appreciate and understand it.
MED-EL
August 12, 2024
Hi Melvin, thanks for sharing your hearing experience with us. Every recipient’s hearing journey is a unique process to them. As speech is more complex to understand, and even more so with the addition of music with singing, it can take time and practice for singing to become intelligible. To begin with, we encourage practice with simple, familiar and repetitive songs while reading along with the lyrics. From there, branch out to other songs from the same, familiar artist and more complex arrangements. Here are some other tips that might help: https://blog.medel.com/tips-tricks/tips-tricks-rehab-at-home/rehab-at-home-for-adults-enhancing-music-enjoyment/. We would also recommend sharing this with your hearing professional as they can provide suggestions and tips on how to integrating listening training for music into your rehabilitation routine. Kind Regards, Giulia
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