Unforgettable experiences in Patagonia

As we come towards the end of week one in Patagonia, the importance of our visit is beginning to sink in for me. Since I first thought about this project, it has been my intention to take what the BBC National Orchestra of Wales does on a day to day basis in Wales and transplant that to Patagonia, and as I follow our amazing musicians around from school to old people's home, from youth orchestra rehearsal to community choir singing, I see the impact that they are having on everyone that they come in to contact with, and I am realising that we are doing something very important and very special for the people here.

In fact when we work with the communities here in Patagonia who have never seen nor heard live professional musicians before (this really is the first time that a full symphony orchestra has ever performed in this part of the world) then the power of that music is felt for the very first time - and it is extremely potent. Potent enough to offer inspiration to young students who have never considered what their enjoyment of music could do for them as a career; potent enough to bring a smile to the face of the old ladies in the nursing home who haven't left their building for years and for whom memories of their younger lives are awakened when they hear the sound of the violin or the flute; potent enough to bring hundreds of people together to cram into their local church and offer a standing ovation as they applaud their friends who are singing the Hallelujah Chorus side by side with the BBC NOW musicians: this music, these musicians, our performances unlock emotions that will help people have a greater understanding of who they are and what they could be in the future.

Let me tell you a story: German, is an Argentine and he's been working with us this past week, driving us from venue to venue. He doesn't know anything about classical music, he loves rugby and he works very hard with the container ships that pass by this part of the world each day. German, sat in on one of the sessions the BBC NOW musicians were giving for a group of special needs children in Puerto Madryn. The students were responding to sounds they had never heard before; they were creating noises by playing the violins and blowing the trumpets; they were dancing and moving as their only means of expressing their happy feelings through what they were experiencing. German sat there for 20 minutes or so until he could bear to sit no longer, he left the room in floods of tears to call his wife and share his feelings at what he was seeing. He came to me later in the day to thank me, thank me for bringing beautiful music and amazing musicians to his part of the world - a part of the world that has never had this before and for whom the experience will be unforgettable.

This is the importance of what the BBC National Orchestra of Wales is doing in Patagonia, yes it's wonderful to be here and to help celebrate the 150th anniversary of Y Wladfa, but for so many people the BBC NOW musicians are creating unforgettable experience after unforgettable experience that will change the lives of those who have been so welcoming and generous to us here. This is what BBC NOW does wherever in the world we are.