YELLOWKNIFE - Calvary Community church was alive with the sound of music this weekend, as students of the Calgary Opera stopped in Yellowknife on their Northern tour.

Members of the Calgary Opera's Emerging Artists Program performed, instructed and engaged around the North last week, and the capital was no different.

Yellowknife Choral Society artistic co-director Shad Turner sings to Calgary Opera student Andrea Hill during a workshop at Calvary Community Church. - Adam Johnson/NNSL photo

"The weather may be cold, but your welcome has been very warm," said organizer Mel Kirb"y, before the show.

It was the group's second major performance in the North, following classes and community events in Iqaluit.

The troupe, which consists of eight young vocalists at the dawn of their careers, enthralled audiences at Calvary Community church Friday night.

Their performance mixed popular opera pieces with excerpts from Frobisher, the acclaimed new Canadian opera from composers John Estacio and John Murrell.

Even after the group's introduction - an ensemble performance of Verdi's Libiamo (Drinking Song) - audience members and emcees alike were speechless.

"Wow, I don't know how someone follows something like that," said presenter Terianne Berens.

Charismatic, boisterous, and highly-talented, the octet breathed life into old and new favorites, despite one performer, mezzo-soprano Dionne Sellinger, suffering a serious case of vertigo.

"Everything is great from here up," Kirby said, pointing at his neck, as Sellinger steadied herself with a hand on the piano.

Not content to entertain, the Emerging Artists also instructed, meeting with students at N.J. MacPherson and Sir John Franklin schools Friday, as well as with members of Classics On Stage Yellowknife (COSY) and the Yellowknife choral society Saturday.

During a much less formal engagement at Calvary church, the performers held one-on-one instruction with many COSY and Choral Society members, such as artistic co-director Shad Turner, in front of a small crowd.

As Turner performed a piece from Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, the Emerging Artists stepped in.

"You don't need this music, do you?" said baritone James Levesque, as he took away the music stand.

Then, he inserted mezzo-soprano Andrea Hill into the "scene" as a comic foil to move about the stage.

As Turner acted out the scene, forcing to Hill to salute, march about the stage and generally cringe in fear, his singing improved markedly (with the occasional "blah blah blah," when he couldn't remember the words).

Afterwards, Yellowknifer remarked how fun it was to watch the opera students pull the strings during the session.

"It was fun for you, maybe," Turner said with a laugh.