Kurdish people are very musical, says Czech opera company supervisor

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Upon the request of Halgurd Sheikh Najib, the Supervisor of the Soran Independent Administration, the Czech Consulate in Erbil invited the Czech opera company to Soran.

"This is the first opera to be performed in Soran. Opera is a common art form between theater and music that tells stories,” Yousef Omer, director of culture and the arts in Soran, told Kurdistan 24.

Four group members performed ten opera tracks in Soran's high-tone opera hall. Organizing the event was the Soran Independent Administration in collaboration with the Czech Consulate in Erbil.

The Czech opera company performed works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Antonin Dvorak, and Bedrich Smetana.

“We are an opera company coming from the Czech Republic. It is our usual workplace. We are bringing opera to people who have never seen it in their lives. So, coming to Kurdistan and performing opera is actually what we do every day in our company,” Martina Vatskova, the company’s supervisor, told Kurdistan 24 and added “We did it last year and two days back in Sulaimani and we noticed that Kurdish people as a nation are very musical the same as Czech people. We say that every Czech is a musician and I think it could be true for Kurdish people too. You feel the rhythm, you sing a lot. So, I think that you will connect on the musical level even though you don’t understand the words.”

The Kurdistan Region is an attractive destination for these kind of performances. Performing opera in Soran allowed two different languages, Eastern and Western, to be heard together with music and art.