Arctic Talent: Professional vocalist brings opera to karaoke night

Why opera? That’s what many people ask Fahd Errand when they hear the classically trained baritone perform Italian opera on karaoke nights at Iqaluit’s Storehouse Bar & Grill or Chartroom Lounge.

“I didn’t choose opera,” he said. “Opera chose me.”

It happened in an internet cafe in Errand’s hometown of Casablanca, Morocco, when he was eight years old.

The boy was playing Counterstrike, an online video game in which his heavily armed avatar must storm an Italian villa to liberate hostages held at gunpoint.

More captivating to young Errand than this virtual heroism was the game’s soundtrack, which featured a curious musical genre in a language he’d never heard before.

It was E Il Sol Dell’ anima, as sung by the late Italian operatic tenor Luciano Pavarotti.

“It was kind of in the background,” Errand recalled. “It took me 15 years to know that song.”

Errand gave Nunatsiaq News a glimpse into those 15 years and beyond, during which he trained as a professional opera singer before moving to Iqaluit last June.

Summer 2013: Having given up video-gaming years before, teenaged Errand attended English and French classes during summers. There, he befriended a hip-looking student who tucked his long hair under a stylish cap and let his nails grow long to pluck his flamenco guitar.

Errand learned that his charismatic classmate studied music on the weekends at an elite conservatory run by the Moroccan Ministry of Culture. Errand also enrolled as a vocalist, with aspirations of making a splash in Arabic pop music which by then he was able to sing in several dialects.

Fall 2013: Unbeknownst to Errand, his music teachers at the conservatory placed him in the opera class.

“I didn’t expect that it was going to be opera,” he said. “I was waiting for the Arabic music — but I was impressed with opera.”

Winter 2013-spring 2016: Errand quickly learned to enjoy singing opera. He took vocal lessons on evenings and weekends while attending his regular school on weekdays.

“I was just having a fun time,” he said. “I was just going for the vibe and to meet people and to sing together.”

Fall 2016: “After three years at the conservatory, I started taking it seriously,” Errand said.

A new vocal coach took him under her wing. Just a week into his intensified training regimen, his vocal range and quality “changed,” he said, for the better.

Spring 2020: Just as Errand was honing his newfound voice for public performances, the COVID-19 pandemic thwarted his plans.

Spring 2022: After in-person vocal classes resumed, Errand and his conservatory classmates formed an association to host public performances again. No longer shy and in the background, Errand found confidence in the spotlight, singing publicly for the first time.

“I became one of the best singers at the conservatory,” he said.

Fall 2023-summer 2025: Errand immigrated to Ottawa, where he completed his diploma in business administration from Cité College, which he added to the economics degree he earned in Casablanca.

He worked in a bank and sang on the job to take advantage of the building’s good acoustics. Later, working in the food industry, he met some Iqalummiut, which led to him accepting a job at the Hunters Market. Errand has since moved on and is now chef at the Frobisher Inn.

Meanwhile, two Ottawa churches were offering Errand $600 to perform at funerals and $900 to perform at weddings, opportunities he gave up to start anew in Nunavut.

Valentine’s Day 2026: A few months after getting established in Iqaluit, Errand serenaded patrons with a 30-minute operatic performance as part of a romantic dinner-for-two on offer at the Storehouse.

Sometimes, he shows up at karaoke, too, taking on opera classics like Ave Maria or picking contemporary pop hits by vocal powerhouses such as Celine Dion.

Talent tip: “If you are believing in yourself, just believe in quiet — don’t shout it out,” he said. “Surprise the people.”