Jazz Diplomacy

Jazz and Diplomacy Intersect as Czech Ambassador Visits Constellations

When Hynek Kmoníček’s team embarked on a search for a fitting reception venue in Atlanta amid the pandemic, they ran into mostly closed doors.

The ambassador of the Czech Republic to the United States was slated for a two-day stop here en route to Washington from New Orleans, where he’d held a convention of all the country’s volunteer diplomats around the country. They discussed how to use culture and business to drive bilateral engagement.

A woman with short dark hair, red glasses, and wearing a black dress is standing next to a man with gray hair, a gray beard, and dressed in a gray suit with a white shirt and red bow tie. They are both smiling and standing in front of a window with a wooden frame. The woman is holding a document with the words 'ČESKÁ REPUBLIKA' and additional text, and the background appears to be an indoor setting with warm lighting.

Constellations community member Global Atlanta, an international business news service covering the city’s links with the world, had profiled Ms. Vintrlikova’s rise to the position and heard in passing about her dual predicaments: finding a place to welcome the ambassador at a reception, while also arranging for the music-loving diplomat to experience some of Atlanta’s jazz scene. Restaurants had only outdoor seating for her group, and music venues were mostly shuttered.

With a dash of serendipity, an unforgettable evening began to emerge from the crucible of COVID-19.

Global Atlanta offered Constellations as a venue for the socially distanced reception, highlighting the building’s flexible space and efforts to ensure sanitization and air filtration, but more importantly, a chance for the ambassador to take in the civil rights heritage of the Sweet Auburn district in a set of buildings with a surprisingly relevant jazz history.

Smiling woman with short, blonde hair standing at a microphone in front of a wooden wall with partially visible text in the background.

Two women in dark dresses holding champagne glasses at an indoor social event. One woman has short dark hair and wears red glasses, the other has shoulder-length dark hair. The background is blurred with warm lighting and other people visible.

For Mr. Kmoníček, an unconventional ambassador who immerses in local culture wherever he finds himself (including engaging in exotic hunts in Africa and elsewhere), the match was appropriate. A trained classical guitarist who studied and taught music before joining the diplomatic corps, he sees obvious parallels between jazz and diplomacy.

For us? Well, we got to have some fun and drink some bubbles and invite others from around the globe to get a taste of what Atlanta cultural development is like when it really swings. Cheers!