Anything that's on your mind - your relationship, family, work, loneliness, money, health; what is happening for you right now? However, some problems may be much too big and some people vulnerable; in those cases, advice will be given on how to access appropriate resources. If you are looking for support, you may find our list of national support services useful.

Opera Helps is not therapy and we don't make any guarantees to solve your problem. But by experiencing the power of opera you may view your problems in a new light. Previous participants have found the experience deeply affecting and have felt different afterwards. See quotes.

Opera Helps is an art project and we hope many things will come out of it - for example, some people may discover opera who hadn't experienced it before. We hope it will be a valuable experience for participants.

Yes, confidentiality is very important to us. We will only share information about our applicants with those people directly involved in the project who need to know. These are limited to the artist, Joshua Sofaer, Wunderbar staff and the singer allocated to you. The details of your problem will remain a confidential discussion between you and your opera singer only.

Throughout the project, our singers have contact with a professional supervisor to ensure they themselves are supported. However, this will never breach your confidentiality. We will take great care to make sure that your details are not shared any more widely - please don’t hesitate to contact us if you would like further clarification. If you choose to allow us to share your feedback about your Opera Helps session, we may do so.

No. Both the pre-session coordinator and the singer will meet you online. We have previously offered Opera Helps as a an in-person visit to your home, but the Horizon Showcase edition remains entirely online.

In most cases, no. It's important that this is a one-to-one experience with only the person with the problem and the opera singer present during the session. We may consider addressing a problem that affects your household though – for example a couple, or a parent and child. This may need more than one person present and will be agreed on a case-by-case basis.

You’ll need an internet connection, either wired or Wi-Fi, that is strong enough to hold a video call or, if that is not available, a strong 4G connection could work, being mindful that video calls can use a lot of data that your provider may charge you for.

For the live video session to work best we recommend using a device with a larger screen, such as a tablet, laptop, desktop computer or Wi-Fi-enabled TV. Although you could use a mobile phone, we don't recommend it due to the smaller screen size.

We are using Google Duo to make the video calls for the sessions. We’ve chosen Google Duo because it is free, works on any device and has a good quality audio. If you haven’t used Google Duo before you may need to either download the Google Duo app, or sign up for an account. More detailed instructions will be sent in advance of your session (you won’t need to be a technical whizz to make it work). There will also be an opportunity to ask any questions in your pre-session conversation.

By 'aria' in this case we mean a self-contained piece of opera sung by one voice. Most arias are part of a larger operatic piece.

The singers involved are professional opera singers who have been selected by Joshua Sofaer, the artist, and specially trained for the project. They are performers of a very high standard. We've worked closely with respected organisations to find suitable singers.

Joshua is an artist who works internationally to make high quality art events, performances and exhibitions that often involve the participation of members of the public. He is also a PCT accredited Relational Dynamics Coach. Opera Helps uses relational dynamics principles. He wants to use art to enable people to see the world as a place of potentiality and to become more active citizens. Visit Joshua's website.

Wunderbar makes stand-out creative projects that bring audiences and artists together on journeys of intrigue and wonder. They like to turn the everyday upside down to inspire, challenge and nurture new ways to work, think and play. Visit Wunderbar's website.