Our Story...
In October 2015 the BBC National Orchestra of Wales embarked on an ambitous tour of Argentina, Chile and Uruguay, including a community residency celebrating the 150th anniversary of Y Wladfa, the Welsh settlement in Patagonia. Members of the orchestra, along with harpist Catrin Finch, conductor Grant Llewelyn and animateur Andy Pidcock, worked with over 1000 childen in a series of 29 school and community workshops culminating in 2 gala concerts in the Predia Ferial at Trelew.
During these workshops it quickly became apparent to the BBC musicians that most of the schools they visited had no instrument resources at all. A suitcase full of handheld percussion brought from Wales allowed 60 children to play music together, and teachers and pupils in Patagonia were overawed by this simple collection of instruments.
Chris Stock, Principal Percussionist of BBC NOW, found that even the INTA Youth Orchestra that he worked with only had the percussion instruments that the players could gather and bring with them. This was a collection of oil drums, a couple of basic snare drums and a few local ethnic bombos.
In the Specialist Music School in Puerto Madryn, the percussion tutor Jorge Ciar was teaching tuned percussion on a toy painted glockenspiel. Chris was also told that there were no timpani in the whole of the Chubut Province. It was then that he decided to set up the Patagonia Instrument Project to try and help resolve some of these problems.
The aim of the project is to provide musical instruments that are simply not accessible to pupils and teachers in Patagonia, either because of financial constraints or lack of availability. These do not need to be new, just good quality, robust instruments that will serve their purpose for the specialist teachers who need them. Using our network of fellow professional musicians in Wales, we restore and renovate any instruments that are donated to a good working standard. We raise funds to either send instruments spares and consumables over 7,500 miles to Chubut, or we make grants directly to the groups we work with, so that they can purchase instruments directly within Patagonia, thus supporting the local economy.
It is hoped that these musical instruments will nurture the enthusiasm and excitement the players of BBC NOW encountered from the staff and pupils in Chubut Patagonia, helping to build on the legacy of their visit in an area that has a significant cultural and historical connection to the land and people of Wales.
