After condolences and a moment of silence in respect for lost and missing from the Asian tsunami, the music, arts and food event Distinctly Swedish went along as planned in the Filipino capital Manila on January 3.
Supported by the Swedish embassy, SAS and Ericsson, the event was held at the Mandarin Oriental.
Lars Roos, for eleven years Swedish soprano Birgit Nilsson’s own pianist, was first out with a piano concert on the 3rd. Later the Sliding Hammers Jazz Group, led by sister trombonists Karin and Mimmi Hammar, pianist Mathias Algotsson, bassist Tommy Johnsson, and drummer Ronnie Gardiner, with Andreas Pettersson as guest guitarist, performed five concerts.
Finally Filipino artist Manuel Baldemor exhibited paintings from Stockholm last summer while Swedish chef Andreas Balla made sure all dishes on the special event menu – which included gravlax, meatballs with cranberry sauce, wallenbergare and apple pie with vanilla sauce – tasted like back home.
