The Singing Ambassadors

TEXT: ERIC PAGLIA PHOTO: PROPERTY OF THE KOREAN EMBASSY



“The Singing Ambassadors”, a phenomenon of the Stockholm diplomatic community, make friends through the joy of singing lyrics in Swedish.

JUST BECAUSE HE HAPPENS to live across the street doesn’t mean that Björn Ulvaeus is Ambassador Seiichiro Otsuka’s favourite Swedish songwriter. Nothing against Abba, but when the Japanese ambassador wants to understand the Swedish soul, he prefers to look much further back in the Swedish musical tradition.
         It was a drinking song by Carl Michael Bellman, an 18th century Stockholm bard who sang songs of the licentious lifestyles of the down and out denizens of the taverns of Gamla Stan and Södermalm, that helped launch “The Singing Ambassadors”, a phenomenon of the Stockholm diplomatic community that, as far as anyone knows, is the first of its kind in the world.
         Ambassador Otsuka is the organizing force behind The Singing Ambassadors, who currently comprise the ambassadors of Venezuela, Nicaragua, South Korea, Turkey, Albania, Guatemala, South Africa, Honduras, and Namibia, their spouses, as well as the Chief of Protocol of the Swedish Foreign Ministry. Four of the founding members of the group -the previous ambassadors of Egypt, Bolivia, Macedonia and Serbia-Montenegro- have recently left Sweden.
         Not surprisingly, The Singing Ambassadors have become Ambassador Otsuka’s closest friends in the diplomatic community. “It’s a great way to make friends through the joy of singing,” he says. On a recent Sunday afternoon, Swedish Bulletin was invited to the Japanese ambassadorial residence in Djursholm to attend a rehearsal. While it was certainly an occasion for fun and socializing, there was also a clear determination to become better at performing their repertoire and even understanding the lyrics, which are often in Swedish.
         When asked why they perform Swedish songs, Ambassador Otsuka, who also speaks fluent English and Spanish, points out “We’re in Sweden!” Through The Singing Ambassadors, he has actually grown to greatly appreciate Swedish music. Besides Bellman, Ambassador Otsuka has taken an especial liking to the works of Dan Andersson, “one of the greatest Swedish poets of the last century,” whose songs “reveal the Swedish soul”. The ambassador understands all the lyrics to his favorite Andersson song Jag Väntar. By learning Swedish songs he gains an understanding of the language and culture of the country, with the lyrics allowing him to appreciate the local sentiment and lifestyle. It seems to Ambassador Otsuka, from the songs he has so far learned, that Sweden has a “deep drinking culture” and that the Swedish soul is essentially melancholy and romantic.
         The core members of The Singing Ambassadors, who play the guitar and sing, are Ambassador Otsuka of Japan, the Venezuela’s Ambassador Horacio Arteaga, and Leonnié Blandón de Montenegro, the wife of the Nicaraguan ambassador. Congas and maracas have been integrated into live performances, which have so far been at charity events and private parties. Audiences have even been known to start dancing, especially on songs like Twist and Shout and La Bamba.
         The Singing Ambassadors’ repertoire is constantly increasing, as they learn more songs, and new “singing” ambassadors bring with them songs from their home country. A look through The Singing Ambassadors song book reveals songs in Swedish, Spanish, English, Italian and Japanese.
         And of course, with Björn Ulvaeus across the street, it would be unneighbourly, not to mention undiplomatic, not to do a few Abba songs. The Singing Ambassadors sometimes perform The winner takes it all, Chiquitita, I have a dream, and Fernando. And on one occasion, Mr Ulvaeus and his wife Lena even played along.