Ten Things I've Learned From Ten Years of Motherhood
On her oldest daughter’s tenth birthday, Director of B’Opera and Motherhood Activist Zoë Challenor reflects on what ten years of...
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B'Opera
- Sep 6
- 2 min
Anyone seen my pants?! (Or how not to pack for a summer holiday)
We’ve spent a significant amount of this summer living out of suitcases and camping, so our main activity has been hunting for clean...
B'Opera
- May 2
- 3 min
The Magic Flute - a production for the next generation
The Magic Flute - Welsh National Opera Wales Millennium Centre ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Image credit: WNO If there's to be opera in the future, today's...
B'Opera
- Jan 26
- 4 min
Case study: reflections on the Certificate for Music Educators (CME)
One of last year's big projects was finishing the Certificate for Music Educators in Early Childhood (CME:EC) accredited by Trinity...
B'Opera
- Jan 17
- 2 min
Breaking down patriarchal norms by centring women and children's voices
When we centre the voices of women and children, we contribute to breaking down patriarchal norms.* Here's how we go about this at...
B'Opera
- Aug 22, 2022
- 3 min
Reframing "no"
We groan and grumble when our little ones discover the word “no”. I mean, in our carefully ordered lives where we like to have a little...
B'Opera
- Jul 20, 2022
- 8 min
Hello Bird, Hello Fish! The start of an important conversation
Zoë Challenor - Director, B’Opera What struck me most about B’Opera’s first sharing of Hello Bird, Hello Fish! was that the audience...
B'Opera
- Apr 21, 2022
- 3 min
How the arts can teach us to be better humans
Coming to England at Birmingham Rep Theatre I’ve had two lightbulb experiences recently, both a result of engaging with the arts. The...
B'Opera
- Mar 25, 2022
- 2 min
The lies we've been sold about motherhood
Photo by Simran Sood on Unsplash What images pop up for you when you think of the word "Mother"? If you fancy making an experiment of it,...
B'Opera
- Nov 26, 2021
- 3 min
The B'Opera Christmas Guide to Supporting Small Businesses
Read on for our selection of Christmas gift ideas from small businesses, many of them local, mum-run, and ethical. We're aiming to help...
B'Opera
- Nov 7, 2021
- 1 min
Do you •really• want to give them more single use plastic this Christmas?
We believe that, like us, you want to leave a planet worth living on for our babies and toddlers. So do you really want to give them more...
B'Opera
- Oct 31, 2021
- 4 min
This is not what I had in mind when I booked a holiday!
Emergency hospital visits and getting flooded was not what I planned for a half term holiday. They say life is what happens when you’ve...
B'Opera
- Jul 19, 2021
- 5 min
Why him? A Tribute to Graham Vick
Birmingham Opera Company's Lady Macbeth of Mtensk, 2019 Photo by Zoë Challenor “Music already belongs to everyone. The democratic wonder...
B'Opera
- May 9, 2021
- 2 min
Please Look After This Mother
Photo credit: Original photo Anh Nguyen, butchered by Zoe Challenor For mothers everywhere this Maternal Mental Health Awareness Week 1) ...
B'Opera
- Mar 8, 2021
- 2 min
The music of our days
monotony," from monotonos "of one and the same tone" It started with us winding the windows down and blasting ABBA out of the car...
B'Opera
- Mar 3, 2021
- 3 min
So you think you can't sing?
I'm going to be a little blunt. Almost every time the subject of singing comes up, which, given my job, is frequently, someone will say...
B'Opera
- Jan 4, 2021
- 3 min
"I'm not allowed to feel this way"
Today we’re talking about comparative suffering. which I define as - dismissing or belittling your own experience because "someone else...
B'Opera
- Dec 10, 2020
- 2 min
The Invisibility of Motherhood
Photo credit: Tanaphong Toochinda When the Coronavirus pandemic hit Britain in March and lockdown was enforced - something that could be...
B'Opera
- Nov 11, 2020
- 2 min
How can we help little ones to make sense of Remembrance Day?
Poppy - Seren, age 5 How can we help little ones to make sense of Remembrance Day? A year ago today, I rocked up at Birmingham Hippodrome...
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