Last October, the Sound Sensation Music Festival took place in Vienna, Austria, with deaf and hard of hearing musicians from around the world participating in performances and workshops. Roy Smith, a 74-year-old local musician from Chapel Hill, represented the USA in the festival.   In this episode, Shari Eberts sits down with Roy Smith and Johanna Boyer, a musicologist and research associate with MED-EL. Johanna has been with the company since 2012, focusing on music and cochlear implants, and is a leading researcher in the field. As a singer and user of a cochlear implant herself, Johanna brings a unique perspective to her work, and regularly performs and teaches music, as well as conducting work with choirs.   Their conversation explored Roy's experiences with hearing loss and his journey to rediscover his love for music through his cochlear implants, as well as Johanna's research on music perception through CIs and the importance of music for people with hearing loss.  

More information about the festival can be found here: https://hearlife.medel.com/campaigns/sound-sensation

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