BY SARAH WORRALL, AUSTRALIAN YOUTH ORCHESTRA
Sydney flautist Elissa Koppen, 21, has spent the past three weeks performing with the Australian Youth Orchestra as part of its 22nd International Tour.
So it may come a surprise to learn Elissa suffers from permanent hearing loss.
Hailing from Sydney’s Inner West, the musician has played flute and piccolo since the age of 7. When she started to notice a change in her hearing ability at 14, she knew life as a musician would be a challenge.
“One afternoon after school, my right ear just went completely dead; I couldn’t hear a thing,” Elissa recalls. “Then about a year and a half ago, my left ear started to gradually do the same.”
Elissa’s deafness is known as sensorineural hearing loss and is caused by nerve damage. However, watching Elissa play with the Australian Youth Orchestra at an impressively high level, you would never know her hearing was so drastically impaired. She now wears a hearing aid on her left ear and a cochlear implant on her right to assist her when playing as part of an orchestra.
“I have a lot of trouble hearing myself in an orchestra so the implant helps,” Elissa explains. “Although it’s designed for speech clarity, in terms of music it does give me more of an awareness of what’s happening around me.”
She also uses an FM system, which functions as an external microphone that is given to the conductor or teacher “so it sounds like they are standing next to me. That makes a huge difference – without this technology, it would be impossible”.
After first switching on her cochlear implant, Elissa underwent rehabilitation to train her brain to interpret sound again. Gaining full use of the device takes around 18 months; time Elissa spent in front of music scores listening to symphonies, trying to pick out each different part. “I sort of trained myself to be more attuned to that, which really helps me now I’m in the orchestra.”
Elissa has participated in AYO’s National Music Camp and Young Symphonists programs in 2012, but she was ecstatic when she was accepted into the Australian Youth Orchestra Season program this year.
“I actually didn’t think it was going to happen,” says Elissa. “I didn’t think my audition went that well. I’d just been in hospital for a month…so finding out I was accepted was the most elated feeling. Especially with my hearing now increasingly worse, I was sort of wondering if I could even still do this. Getting into AYO was just what I needed to inspire me to keep going.”
Elissa might not hear the notes with the same precision as her fellow instrumentalists. However, she leaves no clue to the difficulty behind her performance, even in instances when technology lets her down.
Recalling AYO’s recent concert in Shanghai, Elissa describes her implant going flat right before the concert was due to start. With no batteries on hand, Elissa still managed to play the whole symphony.
“It was pretty incredible, actually. I still have a tiny bit of the lower end of my hearing, so I could hear some bass and some cello and some percussion, but the rest was a blur.
“I just watched the concertmaster’s bow, I watched the conductor, I watched the other flute player out of the corner of my eye, and pretty much anyone that would help me come in at the right spot, and in time.
“I’ve picked up on my other senses. I can feel the vibrations; I can feel when I’m out of tune. It takes a lot of concentration but everyone said I sounded perfect, so if I had to do it again I think I could – but I’d rather hear!”
Playing in a professional orchestra is Elissa’s ultimate goal. However, she is acutely aware of her reality and anticipating further hearing loss, she asks herself two questions: “Will I be able to physically do it, and will I even enjoy it?”.
Her contingency plan is to become an audiologist so she can follow another passion and help other people with hearing impairments. More immediately, she wants to learn sign language and become more involved with the deaf community.
“But music is my number one goal and I don’t want to stop unless I actually have to,” Elissa says.
“The doctors told me I wouldn’t be able to do it, and that was heartbreaking. I spent my whole life invested in something I really love. To be told I wouldn’t be able to do it anymore – I wanted to prove them wrong.
“I’ve gained inspiration from people who have done it before me; seeing others succeed, I hope that I can do it as well, and hopefully then be that inspiration for others one day.”
When asked whether she has any advice for other people with hearing difficulties who want to be involved in music, Elissa stresses that patience is a virtue: “It doesn’t all happen at once; you must be patient, and you must remain positive”.
“There were definitely times when I was feeling negative, that it was all too hard, and that I couldn’t do it. But I’d sit with a tuner and if I could do just one scale in tune I’d think: ‘Wow, that’s great, you’re not supposed to be able to do that and you did!’. Anything you do is going to take time; you’re learning a completely new skill. But it can be done, so if you really love it then don’t give up; and be patient.”
Other key achievements of Elissa’s include playing with Sydney Conservatorium of Music’s Estivo Summer School in Italy in 2015 as well as performing with Sydney Youth Orchestra.
Elissa is due to play in the Australian Youth Orchestra’s homecoming performances alongside French pianist Helene Grimaud, led by Manfred Honeck at Arts Centre Melbourne and Sydney Opera House on 6 and 8 August respectively. More information from ayo.com.au.
Image supplied. Credit: Kris Washusen.
