"Thanks to my cochlear implants, I've regained my ability to hear music"
Laura Korhonen, a singer and music teacher, lost her hearing in both ears within just a few years—and with her hearing, she lost her music as well. Thanks to two cochlear implants, she now performs on stage with her own folk band and even records CDs.
Music has always played an important role in the life of Laura Korhonen, who was born in Finland. The singer and music teacher, who has cochlear implants (CI), learned to play the kantele (a Finnish folk instrument), the violin, and the piano as a child. Later, she studied voice in Helsinki at the Pop/Jazz Conservatory, the Sibelius Academy, and Metropolia University of Applied Sciences, as well as musicology at the University of Helsinki.
The singer and music teacher successfully completed her studies in jazz vocals at the Vienna Conservatory in 2013. For several years, however, Laura Korhonen was unable to pursue her musical dream: numerous episodes of sudden hearing loss marked this difficult period, which led to hearing loss in both ears.
Sudden Hearing Loss
“Before I got cochlear implants, I played a lot of music—music was really my life,” says Laura Korhonen, a singer and music teacher with cochlear implants. But in 2010, her hearing in her left ear suddenly became very poor. Then, in 2018, she suddenly lost her hearing in her right ear as well. During that time, she could hear almost nothing. “Before I got the cochlear implants, I couldn’t hear the music at all back then, and I couldn’t enjoy it at all,” she explains.
How does a cochlear implant work?
A cochlear implant (CI) is an electronic hearing device that enables people with severe to profound hearing loss to perceive sound. Unlike hearing aids, which merely amplify sound, a CI takes over the function of the damaged inner ear by directly stimulating the auditory nerve electrically:
- Sound Recording: An external microphone picks up ambient sounds.
- Signal processing: The speech processor filters and digitizes the recorded sound signals.
- Transmission: The digitized signals are transmitted wirelessly via a transmitter coil to the receiver module implanted under the skin.
- Stimulation: The implant converts the signals into electrical impulses and transmits them to an electrode array inserted into the cochlea.
- Nerve stimulation: The electrodes specifically stimulate the auditory nerve, which transmits the impulses to the brain, where they are interpreted as sounds and noises.
This allows people with hearing loss to perceive sounds and speech again, even if their inner ear is severely damaged. The combination of external components (microphone and speech processor) and internal components (implant and electrodes) enables direct communication with the hearing organ.
New Possibilities Thanks to Cochlear Implants
When her hearing began to deteriorate so severely, the singer and music teacher immediately sought information. It quickly became clear that she wanted to have cochlear implants fitted. Her main goal was to be able to communicate again and, if possible, to make music once more.
With the right cochlear implant, the experience of sound can become a reality again: hearing familiar melodies or learning to play an instrument. The right hearing implant opens up a wide range of possibilities.
“Cochlear implants have completely changed my life. Without them, I wouldn’t be a singer or a music teacher anymore. Thanks to my cochlear implants, I’ve regained my love of music,” says Laura Korhonen.
An Improved Listening Experience Every Day
The Finnish woman lives in the countryside and spends a lot of her free time outdoors. She enjoys going for walks and, in the summer, swimming. In her free time, she also likes to read, and has started going to concerts and museums in the city regularly again, as well as attending the theater. Culture and connecting with people are very important to her.
Thanks to her cochlear implants, the singer and music teacher can truly enjoy all of this again. Not only can she recognize the music, but she’s also getting better and better at hearing the little details and nuances of the sounds. Although she already hears well, she continues to learn how to listen with her cochlear implant, which makes the music sound just a little bit better for her every week and every day. “Without cochlear implants, I wouldn’t be able to sing anymore; I wouldn’t be a music teacher anymore, and I wouldn’t have a career anymore,” Laura Korhonen is certain.
Learning to Hear Again
In addition to her work as a music teacher, she now regularly tours Austria with her band “Satuo,” delighting audiences and fans alike. Although she has given many concerts in her life, she felt a bit uncertain during her first concerts with cochlear implants: “I was a beginner again; I had to learn to hear all over again and learn to listen to music anew,” she says. “That’s why I was more nervous than before.”
But she is very grateful that she can sing and perform on stage again at all. “It’s a miracle—I really never would have thought it possible,” says Laura Korhonen happily. Music makes the life of this singer and music teacher with a cochlear implant richer and more beautiful. Her advice for anyone who enjoys making music: “Just let go and enjoy the music—and don’t worry so much about whether you’re doing something right or wrong.”
Follow-up care is crucial for hearing success with a cochlear implant: Patients’ motivation complements intensive hearing training programs designed to improve their hearing. Would you like to know how follow-up care, rehabilitation, and hearing training lead to optimal success? Then read our article “The Miracle of Hearing with a Cochlear Implant.”
