Polish NEWS: The 12th International Music Festival “Ślimakowe Rytmy / Beats of Cochlea” will take place shortly. The festival celebrates children, young people and adults with hearing impairments who, thanks to hearing implants, rehabilitation and their own hard work, are able to develop their passion for music and perform before an audience. In 2026, the event will be held under the theme “Symphony of Life.”
For more than ten years, the International Music Festival “Ślimakowe Rytmy / Beats of Cochlea” has demonstrated that the treatment of hearing disorders involves not only medicine and technology, but also a return to communication, education, social relationships and the world of sound. The event enables participants to showcase their vocal, instrumental and musical abilities. Both amateur performers and professional musicians who use hearing implants can appear on stage.
“For people with hearing implants, music can be more than a passion. It can become a symbol of returning to the world of sound, communication and an active life,” says Professor Henryk Skarżyński, a world-renowned otolaryngologist and the originator of the International Music Festival “Ślimakowe Rytmy / Beats of Cochlea.”
A Festival Centred on the Patient
The International Music Festival “Ślimakowe Rytmy / Beats of Cochlea” was initiated by Professor Henryk Skarżyński, a world-renowned otologic surgeon, founder of the World Hearing Center in Kajetany and Director of the Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing. The festival grew out of the experience of a medical centre in which treatment, rehabilitation, research and everyday work with patients form an integrated whole.
Although the International Music Festival “Ślimakowe Rytmy / Beats of Cochlea” is an artistic event, its significance extends far beyond the arts. Every participant’s performance illustrates the journey undertaken by people with hearing impairments: from diagnosis and treatment, through rehabilitation, to regaining self-confidence and an active life. Music is both a passion and evidence of how profoundly modern hearing medicine, combined with consistent therapy, can transform people’s lives.
From the Auditions to the Final
The 12th International Music Festival “Ślimakowe Rytmy / Beats of Cochlea” will begin on Thursday, 16 July 2026, with participant auditions in the Atrium Hall of the World Hearing Center. The jury will select five winners, who will perform during the festival final.
On Friday, 17 July 2026, the 12th Scientific Conference and Workshops, entitled “Music in Human Auditory Development,” will be held. The conference will be opened by Professor Henryk Skarżyński.
The programme includes presentations on hearing implants, music therapy and the conscious reception of music in the rehabilitation of people with hearing impairments. Professor Artur Lorens will deliver a lecture entitled “Through Hearing Implants to the Symphony of Life.” Barbara Kaczyńska will discuss the musical “Beethoven Returns” as an innovative approach to music therapy, while Associate Professor Krzysztof Stachyra will present the therapeutic potential of mindful and conscious music listening.
The workshop programme will include a session entitled “The Ensemble Called Society — Symphonically” and an interactive music therapy concert, “The Mindful Concert.”
The Grand Finale: “Symphony of Life”
The final of the 12th International Music Festival “Ślimakowe Rytmy / Beats of Cochlea” will take place on Saturday, 18 July 2026, at 6:00 p.m. It will be preceded by a screening of the documentary film “Implant: My Lifelong Friend,”while the entire ceremony will conclude with the musical “Beethoven Returns.”
The theme “Symphony of Life” reflects the central idea of the 12th International Music Festival “Ślimakowe Rytmy / Beats of Cochlea.” The event confirms that hearing is not solely a medical matter. For many patients, it means being able to participate more fully in life: in conversations, education, work, relationships and culture. In Kajetany, this journey will be seen and heard on stage.
All events will be held in person at the World Hearing Center in Kajetany.
The 12th International Music Festival for Children, Young People and Adults with Hearing Impairments, “Ślimakowe Rytmy / Beats of Cochlea,” held under the theme “Symphony of Life,” will take place from 16 to 18 July 2026 at the World Hearing Center of the Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing, located at 17 Mokra Street in Kajetany, near Nadarzyn.
The event is organised by the Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing and the Institute of Sensory Organs.
Further information is available at:
Polish NEWS /art/ Soruce: Agencja Informacyjna / 15 July 2026
