“Plenitude of sounds, or music in the development of a human being” – this is the keynote of the 7th International Music Festival of Children, Youths and Adults with Hearing Disorders “Beats of Cochlea,” to which Prof. Henryk Skarżyński and the team from the World Hearing Centre in Kajetany invites you. This year’s edition is held on 13-15 July. Traditionally, the Festival is accompanied by Scientific and Musical e-Workshops as well as the International Scientific e-Conference “Music in the Auditory Development of a Human Being.”

– This year’s Festival was planned as an online event to guarantee participants from all over the world and the audience safe attendance in the conditions of COVID-19 pandemic – says Prof. Henryk Skarżyński, the originator and organiser of the event. – I firmly believe that despite its new format, it will provide essential knowledge and experiences in the area of music. Traditionally, the Festival includes meetings with specialists. This year’s e-Workshops cover the fields of music therapy, art therapy and vocal pedagogy. At the end of the event, I will be, as always, honoured to invite you to the Gala Concert with the participation of the Laureates of the previous edition, ten new participants who submitted their pieces, and Special Guests. You can follow all the lectures, workshops and concerts online on YouTube or at the Festival web page – said Prof. Henryk Skarżyński.

The Festival will start with e-Workshops titled “Music in the human auditory development”. The specialists will try to answer the question: How can you derive positive experiences helpful in everyday life from various areas of art, such as music, painting, dance or singing? During the classes, you will have a chance to feel the joy of singing together, find your natural movement and sense of rhythm during Dalcroze eurhythmics classes, and try to face tinnitus during specially designed music therapy classes. In turn, Vocal pedagogy exercises will help you get to know your voice better and develop its strength. The guitar workshop for enthusiasts, despite its name, is aimed at everyone who would like to learn more about this fantastic instrument and listen to therapeutic guitar compositions. Children with hearing dysfunctions and other interested persons are invited to discover various painting techniques that help to express one’s feelings and experiences and thus can be a means for communicating thoughts. After the e-Workshops, the organisers invite you to an e-concert of theatrical movement interpretations of music titled “In the rhythm of emotions” performed by students of the Musical Academy in Katowice. The programme features pieces by Handel, Penderecki, Hosokawa, Vasks and Xenakis.

The detailed programme of the e-Workshops is available at the Festival web page: https://festiwal.ifps.org.pl/warsztaty/

An integral part of the Festival is the International Scientific e-Conference “Music in the Auditory Human Development”. The subject of the conference focuses mainly on the potential and effectiveness of various forms of music therapy when working with persons with hearing disorders, particularly children who are users of hearing implants. There will also be no shortage of exciting themes for a wider audience – they will learn what an auditory pathway is and why a functioning sense of hearing alone is not enough to hear well. A deep dive into this theme will be the lecture explaining, among other things, how the brain handles the auditory information provided by a hearing implant and why tailoring speech processors to patients is always a considerable challenge. We will also look at the rehabilitation care before and after implantation procedure and examination using magnetic resonance imaging in terms of the issues of interest to the patient. An interesting topic will undoubtedly be a presentation of the results of hearing tests conducted among music school students.

A detailed programme of the e-Conference is available at the Festival web page: https://festiwal.ifps.org.pl/konferencja/

Workshops, scientific lectures and concerts will be available under the following links:

July 13, 2021

e-Workshops – https://youtu.be/c-RyXyg6xxQ

July 14, 2021

e-Conference – https://youtu.be/wUP7n5Wz_aI

July 15, 2021

e-Concert – https://youtu.be/nSc9U-l-Uvo

The Festival will end with the Gala Concert, which is meant to capture the multidimensionality of music and show the power of its impact. – Each tone, each pause, each dissonance or harmony, largo or vivo – leads to a world of unique sensations. They have the power to impact our emotions and can change them – assures Prof. H. Skarżyński. Performing at the e-concert will be the stars of the 7th edition of the Festival “Beats of Cochlea”, i.e. this year’s Laureates from Poland and abroad. Their instrumental and vocal performances will be enriched with films shot in beautiful locations – places that are particularly near and dear to them and constitute a visual complement to the music they perform with genuine passion and commitment.  Another attraction will be the performance of the Masovia String Quartet – a chamber string quartet created by a group of friends – virtuosi and art lovers.

The Gala Concert will be hosted by Agnieszka Sepioło and Maciej Miecznikowski.