His journey:
Drs. Kalez Kursat MMC CPC was born in Turkey and has been living in the Netherlands since 1994. Here he learned the Dutch language in a very short time. He completed his master's degree in Economics at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam in 2000 in a record time of 4 years. He successfully completed two different postgraduate studies at the same university in 2013 (European Institute for Public Controlling, CPC) and 2017 (Executive Master of Management Consulting, MMC). He has served as a consultant in the Dutch Ministries of Finance, Justice, Agriculture and in various large companies. While working as an economist at the University of Amsterdam, he decided to resign. It was one of the hardest decisions of his life. The word "Heart rules the brain" applies to him and he chose the way of MUSIC…
First concert and more:
Kalez Kursat gave his first concert at a primary school in Turkey at the age of 8. His teacher asked the class: “Who can sing?” Everyone answered: “Kalez”. He also sang the song Esmerim. As he sang this song, he felt that he was born for music. He wrote his own first song at the age of 12 and has written and composed more than 100 lyrics ever since. As an independent artist, he has released albums and hit singles (FIS, Havan Batsın 2006; Zibidi 2007; Sensiz 2007, Alles Met Jou en Aşka Gelmek 2009, Kim 2010). Although he made Turkish songs, he received offers from big record companies such as EMI Benelux and Red Bullet Netherlands. Instead he chose a different path.
Inspiration for change:
Kalez Kursat often listened to arias from Italian classical music and famous operas. His heart made him feel that he should choose classical music rather than the pop music he had done so far. For this reason, he decided in 2010 to perform Italian songs in Turkish and with Turkish instruments.
After a long search, he has selected 10 beautiful songs such as Caruso, IL Canto, Domani Verra, Notte and E Lucievan Le Stelle. These songs were sung by great artists such as Pavarotti and Lucio Dalla. He talked to several producers about this different production. Some even advised him not to sing classical music because it is difficult. After searching for a year, he found Joos van Leeuwen, one of the most experienced producers in the Netherlands, who believed in his idea, voice and personality. They believed that all instruments had to be played acoustically in order to make a high quality album together. They started this album project in 2014 at Studio Soundwise in Amsterdam and their own Studio KLZ in Alkmaar.
New album took 13 years:
Meanwhile, Kalez Kursat was working full time and was receiving two postgraduate studies. He learned the programs for recording and arranging music in the evenings and weekends. He recorded his own vocals, experimented with microphone and recording techniques, and found the tone he wanted. He also wrote two books. The reason that he learned so many different things and due to his practicing, caused the album to take a long time to be made.
While recording these classical music songs, he realized that singing from the heart and ears alone was not enough and he needed a better singing technique. For this, he looked for professional help in 2018 and found music teachers Deborah and Anita. It took 3 years for him to master the new technique he learned from her.
Scarcity forces creativity:
As a child of a poor family, he made his own toys. He can still wholeheartedly confirm that "scarcity drives creativity" because he writes the lyrics himself (and composes if necessary), records and edit his own sound in his own studio, but also mixes and masters this sound. This also goes for the video clips he makes; he writes the scripts, looks for suitable venues, arranges the cameramen and camera equipment, and also acts as a music video director and recording director. In addition, he does the montage and coloring of these videos. He also designs his own website, makes and monitors the commercial aspects of music and social media content. With pleasure he works seven days a week for his musical dream. He expresses his gratitude to nearly 50 family, friends and colleagues who helped with this album and bows respectfully before them.
Now is the time:
After 13 years, his first single with music video (recorded in The Netherlands), will be released in July 2023. All 10 songs are ready for release, but he wants to release a music video with every song. He will be releasing a new single with a music video every 4 weeks.
He expresses his endless thanks to Ayse (his mother), Maria, Joos, Rolf, Tarzan, Luuk, Recep Sefa, Yke and other teammates who supported him in his musical path.