B'Opera create high-quality, interactive, musical experiences for babies, toddlers and their grown-ups from all backgrounds.
B’Opera create immersive musical experiences for babies, toddlers, and their grown-ups through a blend of weekly workshops, relaxed concerts, and original baby operas.
Led by professional musicians and educators, B’Opera blend classical music, storytelling, and sensory play into relaxed, child-centred performances.
From libraries to hospitals, community gardens to theatres, B’Opera collaborate with a wide range of partners across the West Midlands. They are Regular Visiting Artists at Birmingham Children’s Hospital, and partners on the Birmingham Early Years Music Consortium, Sounds of Play, working to nurture and develop best practice in early years music across the city.
"I left the concert feeling that this was an organisation that really understood how to put on a concert for small children and babies."
- Get Kids Into Music
Zoë Challenor
Founder & Director
Zoë Challenor is the Founder and Director of B'Opera, where she brings together her distinguished career as a singer with a lifelong commitment to education and a profound belief that every person - no matter how young - deserves to be heard.
A prize-winning graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Zoë has dedicated her career to creating meaningful musical experiences that are inclusive, imaginative, and transformative.
She spent eight years as Choral Director and Singing Teacher at Trinity Laban Conservatoire’s Junior Department in London, nurturing young voices. Her work with Welsh National Opera (WNO) has encompassed a rich variety of projects, from early-years workshops and co-creative songwriting with refugee families, to mentoring emerging workshop leaders in the field.
Zoë is a dynamic speaker, performer, writer, and educator, regularly delivering workshops, CPD training, and talks across the UK and internationally on B’Opera’s mission and impact.
Jacqueline White
Founder & Producer
Jac graduated with a Masters in Performance from Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, and a PGCE with QTS from Birmingham City University. She combines an active performing career with teaching students at BOA and privately. With over 17 years teaching experience, working with Services for Education and CBSO Young Voices amongst others, she has shared her love of music with hundreds of students, supporting and enabling pupils to perform in venues such as The Genting Arena, Symphony Hall, the Adrian Boult Hall and abroad.
Jac has performed with companies including the New English Orchestra, Birmingham Opera and Opera UK, touring across the UK and in Europe. She qualified with a CME:EC (Certificate for Music Educators: Early Childhood) through CREC (Centre for Research in Early Childhood)
She is a mother to 3 young boys and is passionate about helping to support mothers' health and wellbeing.
Phil Ypres-Smith
Founder & Music Director
Phil studied at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and has enjoyed an extensive career composing, arranging, teaching, singing, and performing on organ and piano. Recordings include a CD of original compositions called Love and Joy. Phil regularly composes new music for B'Opera, and alongside Zoë, has featured on BBC Radio 4's Soul Music.
An award-winning music director with St Alphage Musical Production Society and the founder and director of Obsidian Theatre Productions Ltd, Phil has over 30 years teaching experience and has been the organist and Director of Music at St George's Church in Edgbaston since 2005.
Phil is a senior paediatric audiologist for the NHS, working with the newborn hearing screening programme since its inception.
Aliyah Wiggins
Team Member
Aliyah is a singer songwriter from Birmingham who began her music leader journey with B’Opera in 2020. In 2022 she took up an 18-month Vocal Leader Internship for Welsh National Opera, delivering workshops across the West Midlands and Wales, sharing her passion and knowledge of singing Opera and Neo-Soul.
Aliyah is currently working with Quench Arts and studying for the CME and You Are Gold programmes to obtain her Level 4 Certificate for Music Educators accreditation from Trinity Guildhall and Gold Arts Award, as well as working as a freelance musician.
You can hear Aliyah's single Questions here.
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