"I thought I ran the best music service in Britain when I was at Brighton & Hove City Council," says David Hawker, Brighton's former director of children's services, who this month took on the task of spearheading children's policy in Wales.
But Hawker's illusions were soon shattered once he arrived in Cardiff, just in time for the National Eisteddfod festival, a week-long celebration of Welsh language and culture.
"One night I listened to some of the young people and I haven't heard such good local orchestras and bands before. They were superb."
By the time CYP Now caught up with him in Cardiff two weeks on, it was the nation's approach to participation that was blowing him away.
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