The evening was mostly about the music, but an international jazz show organized by Global Atlanta hit notes of hospitality, diplomacy and the growth of Atlanta as an international city.
There was no formal intermission, but a brief lull in the music was punctuated by a tribute to the Atlanta Consular Corps and some of its most influential members.
One organizing partner was George Novak, honorary consul general of the Czech Republic, whose connections back home laid the groundwork for the event bringing Emil Viklicky and his Grand Moravia Trio to Atlanta for the first time.
At the event, Mr. Novak also helped set up a symbolic passing of the baton from the longest-serving member of the corps, Paul Gleeson of Ireland, to its new dean, Gandy Thomas of Haiti.
In remarks where he stressed the need for the South to act on its reputation for hospitality, Global Atlanta Publisher Phil Bolton called both men “pioneers” for their roles in opening new connecting points to their home countries.
Mr. Gleeson, Ireland’s consul general, was appointed to the country’s first consulate opened in the United States since the 1930s, while Mr. Thomas was named Haiti’s first-ever consul general in Atlanta a year after the country’s devastating earthquake of 2010. He has been here since and will assume responsibility as dean of the corps when Mr. Gleeson returns to Dublin in July.
Both consuls general sat in the front row and took in the concert, where Mr. Viklicky and his bassist and drummer blended 500-year-old Moravian folk tunes on the subject of wine, love and longing with modern-day jazz stylings.
For more on the concert, see the video at left, or visit the Global Atlanta Facebook page for photos.
The Dean Rusk International Law Center at the University of Georgia is the presenting sponsor of Global Atlanta's Diplomacy Channel. Subscribe here for monthly Diplomacy newsletters.
