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In the choir, Greek and Turkish Cypriots sing together without distinction.
Among them is MEP Niyazi Kızılyürek (second from right)
Photo: Giacomo Sini
There is Christalla Efstathiou, the alto singer. She saw how Turkish soldiers threatened her family, wanting to rape her younger sister.
Today she still sings with people from the other side.
There is Neşe Yaşın, the poet who wrote a hymn to her island and is still looking for her own home to this day.
And finally Costis Kiranides, the choir director.
You don't have to be musical to sing with him, he says.
"Only believe in peace."
They all sing in a choir for which there is actually no place in Cyprus: because it connects people who are enemies in normal life.
After Turkey's attack, the Mediterranean island of Cyprus has been divided since 1974, into a Turkish and a Greek part, separated by a buffer zone and UN soldiers.
Today the conflict has been deadlocked for years.
And yet they continue to sing, since 1997. Men and women, Cypriots of Turkish origin and Greeks.
This choir is often called “bicommunal”, which means something like: that both sides live together in peace and respect.
It's a word often used to describe the future of Cyprus.
And rarely when it comes to the present.
One day, it is hoped in the EU, all of Cyprus can be welcomed as a bi-communal state in the Community.
With equal rights for everyone in a common country.
It is at least questionable whether this will ever happen.
The Republic of Cyprus, long a member of the EU, now exclusively controls the south.
The so-called government in the north is only recognized and supported by Turkey.
The transition to the other part is possible, but there are always collisions.
None of this is an issue during choir rehearsals.
"We want to meet, we want to talk," says one of the singers, "the political leaders want to separate us, but we want to be together." The meeting point for the rehearsals is the Ledra Palace Hotel in the center of Nicosia, the divided capital of the island .
The name reveals that the aging building was once a luxury hotel.
Today it functions as a UN headquarters.
The choir had its first concert here, and many rehearsals are still taking place in the large, bare rooms.
The music transcends political and linguistic borders.
But the age cohort that meets here has mostly had similar life experiences.
It is above all those who experienced the division as young people in 1974 and to this day cannot forget that it was different at one time.
From the Ledra Palace Hotel they often drive into the surrounding area, the choir performs on principle on both sides.
Tonight they are announced at a tavern in Pelathousa to the west.
The journey in an old bus takes more than two hours there and back.
There was a time when bi-communal projects in Cyprus thrived.
Many have since fallen asleep again.
The choir is now the oldest meeting place of its kind.
Many spectators sing along during the performance.
Here in the tavern, the music seems to fulfill the hope of being able to experience a different togetherness, if only for a few hours.
Greek and Turkish mix in the conversations, but also in the songs.
"You say that man must love his homeland" is one of the stanzas that gives an idea of the life theme of many.
Finally, the poet Neşe Yaşın enters the stage.
She talks fervently about the conflict in her chest: "My homeland is divided into two parts - which of the two should I love?" It doesn't take long before most of the room sings along.
Many hold hands.
Later, Yaşın stands alone on the edge, visibly moved by the situation.
She looks exhausted - and happy.
"That," she says, "is the power of poetry."
Christalla Efstathiou also appreciates art as a form of expression of her feelings.
She was just 15 when Turkish soldiers came to her village.
It was August 14, 1974. They were being taken from their homeland in buses.
Men were quickly taken away, the women and girls were locked in a barn for days without eating or drinking, Efstathiou says.
“On the third day they wanted to get my 14-year-old sister.
My mother defended them, but many were less fortunate.”
After such experiences, why does she want to sing together today?
"Because I'm curious," says Efstathiou.
"And because I like to sing."
Taner Şah also remembers this time, albeit in a very different way.
He too had to flee with his family.
He was twelve years old.
Upon returning, they found their home ransacked.
They were safe, but Şah missed his violin.
A neighbor gave him a new one,
said: Soldiers left her, she now belongs to Şah.
With her, Şah became a professional musician.
Today he accompanies the choir with his music.
But he knew that the violin had once belonged to someone else, who might now miss it like he did his own.
"I never thought of her as mine," says Taner Şah today as he prepares for the rehearsal.
The stolen violin shamed him for a long time, he says: »I always felt the need to return it to the owner.
I wanted to know from whom it had been taken.'
He finally succeeded last year.
The man who once owned his violin had been a well-known musician of Greek origin.
Finally, Taner Şah gave the stolen instrument to his son, who was 74 years old himself.
»He was happy to have found his father's violin.
And I felt free.«
Kursat Tilki smiles when he hears such stories.
He conducts the choir with Costis Kiranides.
Both live on an island with different passports.
Both had to overcome many hurdles since they first appeared on stage together 25 years ago.
Even today, when rehearsals are over, they go home in different directions.
And yet, unlike many politicians, Tilki believes he has achieved something.
"Peace doesn't come from paper," he says.
»Peace comes from being together.«
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