Event that united diplomacy, art and goodwill

On July 15, at Tbilisi State Conservatoire, the Brazilian Ambassador to Georgia H.E Carlos Alberto Lopez Asfora gave concert. The event was dedicated to the 20th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. The ambassador decided to mark this event by the Bossa Nova concert and donate the income to the children affected by Leukemia.
The evening was attended by the First Lady of Georgia Sandra Roelofs as well as by the ambassadors accredited in Georgia.
Rezo Kiknadze, Director of the State Conservatoire addressed the audience: “There is one thing that can overcome the barriers of language, state or political borders – the music. I want to invite to the stage two wonderful persons and wonderful musicians.”
“Thank you for being so many”, remarked the ambassador as the event proved to be a total sold-out. He expressed his special gratitude and respect to the First Lady of Georgia for attending the event. Later on, Mr. Asfora invited to the stage Maia Baratashvili, well-known Georgian jazz-woman with whom he had sung at a couple of occasions before. He said that he likes her singing of song of this particular genre very much. The Bossa Nova and jazz voices were nicely mixed.
Carlos Alberto Asfora was accompanied by the hot performance of the guitarist of Dutch origin. Several songs belonged to Tom Jobim, famous Brazilian composer. The hall was overfilled with authentic Brazilian tunes that carried away the public to this exotic faraway country full of sun, joy and colors. Mr Ambassador was emotional and frank in his singing manner; he deserved the stream of applauses that followed the concert, as well as each song, which came from the very heart of Brazil.
The donation was organized via internet as well as at the spot and by the end of the concert, USD 1000 was collected. The Brazilian ambassador was happy to hear that. As a symbol of continuation of this wonderful liaison, two paintings of the children with Leukemia were handed to Mr. Ambassador as a gift and as a commemoration of that beautiful day. Hopefully, this joint charity evening of the diplomatic corps and culture will make its significant contribution to this kind and blessed undertaking, since, according to the statistics, every year, there are over 40 new cases of Leukemia revealed in Georgia.