IQALUIT - Across two territories, the North got a rare - and much appreciated - taste of solid Canadian opera this month.

Members of the Calgary Opera's Emerging Artists Program performed, instructed and engaged around the North in recent weeks, performing and running workshops in Norman Wells, Yellowknife and Iqaluit.

Calgary Opera Emerging Artists program students Stephen Bell and Michelle Keobke sing during a performance at Calvary Community Church in Yellowknife. The show was the second of three stops on the group's pan-territorial tour. - Adam Johnson/NNSL photo

The troupe, which consists of eight young vocalists at the dawn of their careers, enthralled audiences wherever they went. Their performance mixed popular opera pieces with excerpts from Frobisher, the acclaimed new Canadian opera from composers John Estacio and John Murrell.

"The weather may be cold, but your welcome has been very warm," said organizer Mel Kirby before the Yellowknife performance.

The group started off in Iqaluit, performing for hundreds of Iqalummiut in a series of public performances.

"It was awesome," said Aqsarniit school principal Darlene Nuqingaq, who also helped co-ordinate the event.

"We had students singing opera the rest of the day," she said. "It was the toughest audience you could ever have, middle school students."

She estimated the school performance at Aqsarniit took in 320 students, while nearly 300 people attended the public performance.

Nuqingaq said a highlight was the level of audience participation the performers used, bringing young students onstage to act out parts of songs.

"I wish they could come back again," Nuqingaq said.

In Yellowknife, the troupe ran workshops and performed at Calvary Community Church, despite mezzo-soprano Dionne Sellinger suffering a severe case of a vertigo.

"Everything is fine from here up," Kirby said, pointing at his neck, as Sellinger steadied herself in a chair.

The journey concluded in the Sahtu region of the NWT, as the Emerging Artists held a well-attended public performance at the Royal Canadian Legion Feb. 11, followed by a show at Mackenzie Mountain School.

"The performers were great," said principal Shannon Barnett-Aikman. "They were really personable with the kids."

She said there were around 145 students in attendance during the performance, and most were in awe of the singers.

"They loved it," she said. "It was so different than anything they've ever experienced before."

After the Yellowknife performance, baritone James Levesque said he was pleased with what the group had accomplished to that point.

He said he was most proud to introduce students to art and opportunities they might not have otherwise seen.

"If only two or three kids - or if only one kid - is inspired by it, then it was worth it."