Kniha návštěv

dobrý den, my dear friends! 

i’m finally back home in istanbul, and i’ve been thinking about you and these four incredible days we shared together. 

as i told you before, i knew i would need a little time to find the right words after everything was over. and even now, i’m not sure i can fully express what these days meant to me. 

first of all, huge congratulations! truly. what we achieved together in only four days was something very special. not only the two concerts, which made me incredibly happy and proud, but the whole journey that brought us there. every rehearsal, every challenge, every moment of concentration, every laugh, every risk you were willing to take, and every bit of energy you gave to each other and to the music. 

thank you for your trust. thank you for your dedication and hard work. thank you for being so open to everything i asked from you - even when it was new, strange, difficult or outside your comfort zone. but most of all, thank you for your hearts. for your warmth, your friendship, your smiles, your hugs, your beautiful words and all the love i felt from you throughout these four days. 

after our first rehearsal that first evening, i think quite a few of you were a little scared.  Maybe you were wondering what exactly you had gotten yourselves into! but then, little by little, you understood what we were trying to create, you relaxed, trusted the process and simply got to work. 

and from that moment on, the way every single one of you took ownership of what we were doing and threw yourselves into it completely was incredible to witness. 

and there is one thing i will never forget,

when you were working in four separate groups on the movements for Ta na Solbici, you completely lost yourselves in it. i literally could not stop you! I had to almost force you to take a break because i wanted you to rest a bit - and still, instead of resting even for a minute, you just kept working and went straight on to the full rehearsal. 

i will never forget that. because for me, it was much more than enthusiasm or hard work. it was a sign that something very important had happened between us. we really had become a group moving towards one common goal. we had found that spirit together. nobody was doing it simply because they had been asked to, you had made it your own. you wanted it, you cared about it, and you were carrying it together. 

for a conductor, seeing that happen is one of the greatest gifts. and especially knowing that we reached that point in such a short time… it means more to me than i can say. 

i came to Czechia to lead a workshop, but i’m leaving with so much more than that. i feel genuinely lucky to have met each and every one of you. somehow, in such a short time, we managed not only to sing together, but to breathe together, move together, listen to each other, trust each other and, most importantly, feel together. for me, this is one of the most precious things choral music can ever give us. 

some of the conversations i had with you after the concerts touched me very deeply. hearing how you experienced these days, and especially hearing that you felt that same connection and that we were able to enter the same emotional world together, meant more to me than you probably realize. it showed me that what happened between us was not only something i felt from the conductor’s place, it was something we truly created and shared together. 

and apparently, every day, every hour, every minute -maybe even every second- you discovered a completely new side of me.. 

right after our very last stage rehearsal before sunday’s closing concert, one of you came up to me and said something like, “in these four days, we’ve seen so many different sides of you, but we’ve never seen you this worried before. is everything okay?” 

i told her then, but i think i should tell all of you now: yes, everything was absolutely okay. actually, i already knew and expected that the rehearsal would go more or less like that. and strangely enough, that was exactly why i also knew that the concert would be great. 

sometimes, right before the moment when everything has to come together, i guess you met another version of me - the one whose brain is running in ten different directions at once, checking every little detail, imagining everything that could possibly happen and probably looking much more worried than i actually am. 

but once we walked onto that stage, there was nothing left to worry about. there was only trust, in you, in us, and in everything we had built together during those four days. ? so, i hope my (and all of ours) secret power and the hidden “turbo button” worked well in the concert.

and of course, none of this would have been possible without the wonderful people around us. 

a huge thank you to my two wonderful Andreas and to Jaromir for being by my side throughout this whole adventure, for all your help, care, patience and support - and a special thank you to Jaromir for all the work you did with the male voices, and to Andrea P. for being my ears, eyes, all the possible senses on Sunday from the very beginning to the end.. having the three of you there and knowing i could always rely on you meant so much to me. 

to Barbora, for your amazing support and guidance with the movements of Ta na Solbici,

to Eva, for simply amazing me with your Turkish skills  and for a wonderful ride to Prague with Veronika,

to Adam, the greatest pianist ever, for being always there, doing every possible thing to fulfill my strange needs, reacting incredibly well to each and every possible silly and detailed comment of mine, 

to Eva, the "cajon master" for your presence, support, joy and the strong character in all possible ways,

to Isabella, for somehow always noticing what the choir or i needed -sometimes even before we did- and for being there for every little thing with so much care and kindness. 

and a huge thank you to all the organizers and everyone behind this beautiful festival. so much work happens that we as participants may never even see, and i’m deeply grateful for all of it. 

and Julie, a very special thank you to you. you were simply everywhere, all the time. always finding a solution, always taking care of someone or something, and doing an incredible job throughout the entire festival. i honestly don’t know how you managed it all. huge thanks to you, Jakub and to all your amazing friends for everything you did for us, and for me personally. 

and finally, a very special thank you to dear Libor and Jiri, for inviting me to this wonderful festival in the first place, for trusting me with this workshop, and most importantly, for welcoming me so warmly and making me feel like a part of this amazing family. 

without that invitation, none of these people, memories, friendships, music, laughter and emotions would have entered my life. thank you for bringing us together and for creating a festival where something like this can happen. i’m deeply grateful to both of you, and also very happy that i can now say that i have another family in Czechia. 

and your incredible gifts.. 

the "Kizilciklar" socks.. hahahaha  such a brilliant idea! i promise i’ll wear them with great pleasure and definitely with the "mood", and i already know that every single time i put them on, i’ll think of you and these four days. 

and the enormous supply of GeloRevoice! when you found out that we don’t have it in Turkey, you somehow managed to get me a whole basket full of it (ALL in Liberec, as Isabella told me ????) apparently, it didn’t take you very long to notice how easily i lose my voice. thank you for taking such good care of me, and for basically covering my GeloRevoice needs for the next three years! i’m truly grateful. 

the beer, as you can probably imagine, didn’t survive very long, i already drank it the very next day! and i know that with every sip of the whisky, i’ll think of you. ???? and i love the other basket with all the chocolate and sweet stuff, perfect!

and actually, once again i proved that, it was a great idea to come to Liberec with a *HUGE* luggage. 

and then there are the beautiful photos and, most of all, every single word you wrote for me in the notebook. without a doubt, that was the most beautiful gift you could have given me. reading your messages moved me more than i can say. i will keep them and treasure them, and i know i will come back to them many times. 

as i told you during one of our rehearsals, what remains after an experience like this is so much more than the concerts themselves. of course we remember the music, the stage and those special moments when everything comes together. but what we truly carry with us are the people, the connections we make, the feelings we share and the traces we leave in each other’s lives. your words in that notebook made me feel all of that again. 

these gifts will definitely stay with me. some in my heart, some on my feet, some in my glass, and some very close to my vocal cords. 

these four days reminded me once again why i love what i do so much. yes, because of music. but even more because music gives us the chance to meet each other like this. people who were strangers only a few days ago can suddenly become a group that breathes, sings, laughs, and creates something together.. and actually, "Feel-s, Move-s, and Connect-s!" 

i will carry these days, our two concerts, all those faces looking at me while we were singing, and all the moments in between with me for a very long time. 

i hope this was not goodbye, but simply the beginning of many more meetings, songs, hugs and adventures somewhere in the world. 

thank you, one by one, for being there and for being exactly who you are. 

i’m so proud of you, and so grateful for you. 

love you all, and already miss you. 

until next time,
your Masis