The Men of the Deeps by John C. O'Donnell

Author:John C. O'Donnell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Cape Breton University Press
Published: 2016-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

Fig. 6.12 – Prince Michael of Kent (left) and Lt.-Gov. Myra Freeman greet choir member Gordon Sheriff.

Fig. 6.13 – Chronicle Herald, n.d. Herald photo by Eric Wynn.

It was also during the concert with Symphony Nova Scotia that a unique element of Scott Macmillan’s versatility was showcased. Often when The Men of the Deeps are on tour, local musicians make their way to the dressing rooms to introduce themselves. On one of the choir’s previous tours of Western Canada, the group was privileged to meet Kevin Assoun, who asked if he could demonstrate a unique musical instrument that he had constructed. All were amused when his guitar case revealed a pit shovel refashioned into a playable guitar. Needless to say, the instrumentalists in our group were intrigued – particularly the group’s lead guitarist at the time, Paul White.

Upon returning home, Paul, being a skillful craftsman in addition to being an excellent guitarist, decided he would try his hand at building his own pit shovel/guitar. Paul’s labour was rewarded with success, and when The Men of the Deeps performed with Symphony Nova Scotia at that wonderful concert in March 2002, Paul encouraged conductor Scott Macmillan to show his versatility by “jamming” on Yogi Muise’s solo, “Plain Ole Miner Boy.” Scott’s performance was a hit and evoked a rousing ovation. Thank you to Kevin Assoun for his inspiration.

It is a credit to the arranging skills of Scott Macmillan that those same orchestrations were arranged so that they could be adapted for smaller orchestras as well. This feature allowed the scores to be used when The Men of the Deeps repeated the program at Toronto’s Hummingbird Centre with the Canada Pops Orchestra10 under the direction of David Warrack, and later in Cape Breton with the Cape Breton Chamber orchestra, conducted by Laura Mercer.

The choir came into good fortune in 2003 when Stephen Muise was welcomed into the group as pianist. Stephen is the son of former business manager and long-time member of the bass section, Yogi Muise, and as such, he grew up with the choir. In his early youth he was one of the children who would attend weekly concerts at the Miners’ Museum. In 2003 Stephen became actively involved in the production of The Men of the Deeps CD release, Their Lights Will Shine, contributing his keyboard talents to the instrumental backup. Stephen has a degree in music from Mount Allison University and is now a music educator with the Cape Breton-Victoria Regional School Board. His impressive musical qualifications and unique understanding of the history of the choir, and in particular, his close affiliation with the coal mining communities of Cape Breton, made him an ideal choice for the position of Assistant Musical Director when he officially joined the group in 2006.

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