With a renewed line-up, the young artists from RUN OPERUN arrived in the KRI in mid-October to launch on their first ever tour of the KRI. Since last year we performed only one public concert in Erbil, we wanted to give this experience outside the capital, so we came up with the idea of Sulaymaniyah - Soran - Duhok.

The challenge itself was already finding a suitable date. Given that time management in the Middle East is "inshallah" style, it was obvious that it made sense for KRI to address this, or start discussing it, about a month before the event. In contrast, professional artists had their diaries full for a year in advance, and it was necessary to plan and keep the deadline at almost any cost. The tour was tied to the celebrations of the 105^th anniversary of the independent Czechoslovak state, so the final date was set up in mid-October. As a miracle, it fitted everyone involved. 

Immediately after arrival on October 9^th, 2023, there was an evening transfer to Sulaymaniyah, where a day after, on October 10^th, 2023, there was the first open-air concert at the Roman Theatre. Quite frankly, it was not full, but approximately 200 listeners who arrived were truly deep interest in opera. They accompanied every aria with applause and the final standing ovation was amazing. It was visible that Sulaymaniyah is indeed a cosmopolitan and culturally knowledgeable city. 

Then we quickly moved to Soran, where the concert on October 12^th, 2023, was waiting for us. Here we no longer wanted to risk the vagaries of the weather and the concert was held in hall. There were quite a few young people in the hall who stayed until the end. There was also a significant part of the audience familiar with the world of opera. The audience was not as loud as at the first concert, but requests for self-pictures were endless. 

The last concert was held in Duhok, and it was exactly according to the saying "the best for last". The musicians were given time to support the local economy and go shopping. We also put in a day off so they could go to Amedi, where they were personally hosted, in Kurdish style, by the city mayor. It was visible that our guests enjoyed the KRI and really gave their all for the last concert in Duhok on October 15^th, 2023. We were in a hall again that was decently full of opera fans. The final standing ovation and the endless photo session were the greatest honour and reward for the performers.

The Public Diplomacy of the CZ MFA and CG Erbil have contributed to spreading the good name of Czechia in the KRI. Tens of interviews, tens of TV crews, live broadcasts, almost endless photo session after the concerts and tens of personal thank from the audience were a token of appreciation and thanks for all the efforts made.

CG Erbil would like to thank everyone who helped us financially to realize the opera tour of the KRI and participated with us in making a unique cultural experience a reality.