How to tour an orchestra to South America

With over 17,000 miles to travel, transporting a full orchestra to South America with their 260 instruments is no mean feat. BBC National Orchestra of Wales’ Operations and Logistics Manager, Andy Farquharson explains how it’s done.

My job is essentially to ensure we get the right people (and their instruments), to the right place, at the right time. I’m there to support and manage the musicians, and try to look after all the 'behind the scenes' elements for them so that they can focus purely on putting on a great performance.

This tour to South America is certainly the biggest and most adventurous we've ever done. The Orchestra will perform in cities around South America but we’re also visiting places like Trelew in Patagonia – a place where no symphony orchestra has ever performed before! It's great to have a very good reason - the Patagonia 150 celebrations - to travel to such a different location.

Finalising the tour itinerary can take many months, and it’s a bit like a big jigsaw puzzle as a number of factors can impact upon plans. The instruments are travelling in two separate freight movements and to transport these and the rest of the equipment, it takes 45 large boxes with everything listed in a very large document. Some of the Orchestra’s instruments are very expensive so they need to be well looked after.

With such a large logistical operation, we’re lucky to have a huge local team on the ground in South America, who’ll be working closely with our Stage and Transport Managers, Andy and Mark.

There are a LOT of checklists before we depart and we check everything several times because if there are any errors, it can have a massive impact. And it’s not until everyone is back home, and all their instruments a few days after, that you really 'switch off'...before starting work on the next touring plans!

Follow Andy and BBC National Orchestra of Wales’ journey via social media on #NOWTour15 or visit bbc.co.uk/now