DECIBEL, Yordan Kamdzhalov Foundation and Stremezh School join forces in a battle for the future of children
DECIBEL, the Jordan Kamdzhalov Foundation and Stremezh School, Sofia join forces in an initiative dedicated to the sound environment in children's and educational spaces.
The focus is on the places where children spend their most important years:
- kindergartens;
- schools;
- playrooms;
- canteens;
- bedrooms;
- classrooms;
- halls and lounges;
- spaces for creativity, music and communication.
The initiative raises the question of what we allow into a child's hearing and how this environment affects concentration, rest, communication, emotional state and the sense of order. And their future.
DECIBEL has long had a dream: for people to start "hearing" the environment around them better. Not only as physical sound, but as a conscious attitude towards what affects life, health, concentration and our inner state.
In the Jordan Kamdzhalov Foundation and the Stremezh School, DECIBEL recognizes not just a partner, but a like-minded person. The foundation and the innovative school bring a deep understanding of music as upbringing, culture, order, sensitivity and spiritual environment.
The common vision is the creation of better, quieter, more harmonious and acoustically aware spaces for children, combined with the power of classical music.
The environment educates.
Sound, silence and music influence the way a child concentrates, rests, communicates and builds a sense of order and harmony.
When a space is acoustically treated and filled with appropriate sound, it is not just quieter. It becomes more supportive, more understandable, calmer and more human.
This is especially important in kindergartens and schools, where the environment is not a background, but an active participant in upbringing.
The Jordan Kamdzhalov Foundation and the Stremezh School bring to the partnership a value, cultural and musical vision.
Through its work with talents, children, young people and cultural projects, the Foundation has a deep understanding of music as a force that educates, organises, inspires and develops.
In this initiative, classical music is considered not just as a background, but as a carrier of:
- order;
- harmony;
- depth;
- cultural memory;
- attention;
- emotional sensitivity;
- inner discipline.
The initiative is naturally connected to the Psychology of Sound podcast, because both projects have a common goal: to open the sense of hearing and create a deeper public sensitivity to sound.
The podcast also created the first such space for conversations with psychologists, musicians, doctors, teachers, researchers, therapists and people who view sound from different perspectives.
The partnership with the Jordan Kamdzhalov Foundation and the Stremezh School is a natural continuation of these conversations, but now aimed at real social change.
In early June 2026, Maestro Kamdzhalov was a guest on the DECIBEL podcast. The common themes, mission and sense of urgency in our actions for the future of Bulgaria's children also shaped the idea of this common partnership, which is yet to unfold in specific activities.
The episode with the Maestro is available HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GE1VBRX0cIw
Children spend a huge part of their day in common spaces, where the sound environment is often intense.
In kindergartens and schools, there are many voices, movement, hard surfaces, echoes, noise from chairs, corridors, group activities and common spaces. For an adult, this may seem "normal". For the child, this is everyday life in which they learn to communicate, rest, listen, concentrate and understand themselves better.
The initiative poses the question:
If we design children's spaces with care for light, safety, nutrition and sleep, why not design them with care for hearing?
And the answers are yet to come...