10 Benefits of a B'Opera Relaxed Concert

When we started B’Opera, we wanted to give little children and their grown ups an experience of high quality music in an environment built for them - multi sensory, relaxed, welcoming, friendly, using language that didn't exclude. An environment where little ones' needs could be met without stress for their adults, and where they therefore had the best chance of connecting with and enjoying the music, as well as having an experience of ownership - understanding that this music belongs to them as much as it does to any grownup.

Whether it’s Bach, Debussy, an Urdu lullaby or a B'Opera rendition of Twinkle Twinkle.

“It was beautiful - we loved it.”

“He was mesmerised.”

We hear these comments so frequently from audience members.

1) So one of the benefits your little one will get from a B'Opera Relaxed Concert is the message right from the beginning, that music, arts and culture belong to them, and that is big.

2) The genuinely relaxed atmosphere is carefully and lovingly designed by parents (us) who have been where you are now and get the impossibility of it all. We just want you to have a moment of connection with your child without additional demands or stresses - you have enough of those. We see audience members go from worried, tired and anxious, to visibly relaxed as the concert progresses. And of course when our children sense we are more at ease, they are too. It's the opposite of a vicious circle!

3) Music helps your child learn. We could talk all day about this important topic - if you're interested, you really need to sign up to hear more about ​Mini Musical Foundations​ - our course launching soon. For now, research shows that babies listen for longer to singing than speaking. It gets their attention, and the content we sing about is remembered and understood more easily. They pick up vocabulary, ideas, concepts and mathematical patterns, listening to music.

4) Meeting other parents and carers and realising you are not alone. There's nothing like seeing another parent managing a screaming toddler to make us feel less alone in this parenting gig!

5) Playtime and free drinks and snacks - after listening to the gorgeous music, there's a chance to play and have a drink/snack. Some audience members have even reported that playtime kept their little ones busy enough for them to drink their coffee hot!

6) The sublime surroundings of St George's Church can't fail to inspire, whatever your background. St George's are a lovely and inclusive community, glad to have you all in the building, and you'll be welcome whatever your background.

7) Communicative musicality or "the intrinsic musical nature of human interaction" is at the heart of parent-infant bonding. Colwyn Trevarthen tells us it's how babies start to build their sense of self in the world, and understand that they are seen and heard. At these concerts you are harnessing that incredible power and building on it.

8) Get inspired and in touch with your own creativity - many parents tell us how they and their little ones leave inspired, singing more, and playing more with music as they go about their daily lives after coming to one of these concerts. Again, if you like the sound of this, register your interest for ​Mini Musical Foundations​.

9) Fun and laughter - known to be good for all of us - these concerts create a lot of fun and laughter and silliness amidst the beauty.

10) Creating positive shared memories - these concerts create moments of awe and beauty that you will remember, because research shows that even if the ratio of screen- and pooey-nappy-filled mornings to concert going was 99 to 1, you'll remember the concert - the beautiful experience that is outside the norm is the one you remember. Research tells us this, and after eight years of B'Opera, enough of you have come back and confirmed it for us to know that it's true.

Hop Into Spring is on Sat 5th April - it's an enchantingly interactive Easter concert where your little one can explore Bach to Bambi via the beautiful Flower Duet and Sleeping Bunnies, and we'd love to see you there.

There will be a musical egg hunt and the Easter Bunny can't wait to meet you!