Music 'helping to keep Welsh language alive in Patagonia'

Catrin Finch hosts a harp master class in Patagonia

Music is helping to keep the Welsh language alive in Patagonia, harpist and composer Catrin Finch has said.

She has been in the Welsh-speaking part of Argentina with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales (BBC NOW) to mark 150 years since Welsh settlers arrived.

Ysgol yr Hendre, the bilingual Welsh-Spanish school in Trelew, has hosted performances during a week of events.

Ms Finch said it was "incredible" to visit a Patagonian school where all the pupils speak Welsh.

"I think it's the music that is keeping the language alive," she said after the school visit.

"Obviously I've lived in Wales my entire life, and you hear about Patagonia but you never quite get it, you never quite believe that people really do speak Welsh here."

She said it was "incredible" to visit a school where "they all speak Welsh, and they know the songs we have been singing to them".

"They almost know them better than we do," she added.

'Incredible experience'

"It's an incredible experience. When you look out of the window at the countryside, what you see is so different to what we see in Wales, and yet there is a little patch here that is speaking Welsh. It is amazing."

As well as the workshops and performances for schools, members of the orchestra are also taking part in activities with community choirs and amateur orchestras.

The week's performances include a Noson Lawen, an evening of traditional Welsh music, in the town of Gaiman and a gala concert in a converted wool warehouse in Trelew.

After its week in Patagonia, BBC NOW will continue its first tour of South America with performances in Buenos Aires, Chile and Uruguay.