My first piece for TROMBONE! Actually, trombone + percussion! Ghost of a Giant in the Ground - written about the gold mining legacy of Giant Mine near Yellowknife. Premiered Jan 31 2020, Mount Allison University.
Dale Sorensen plays trombone like a pro-athlete, and Joël Cormier rocks out on percussion. Thanks Dale for the commission!
Like many places around the world, the settlement of Yellowknife was founded on a practice of industry that has resulted in a toxic legacy.The now-closed gold mine called Giant Mine used a process to extract gold from the bedrock that created many tons of poisonous arsnic trioxide as a waste byproduct.The arsenic is currently stored underground. It is a lethal presence that - if leaked into the groundwater and creeks that run above the chambers - threatens the nearby town of Yellowknife and the Dene communtiies of Dettah, N'Dilo, and all communities and ecosystems in Great Slave Lake and everything downstream.
This situation is one with echoes of industry, humanity, deep impact, future threats. “A Ghost of a Giant in the Ground” takes inspiration from this situation, imagining that the mine is an actual giant, striking the ground with huge footsteps and tools. And now that the "giant/Giant" is not active anymore, we now hear the echoes of its presence, haunting those who still live above the hollowed ground. Both the trombone and percussion dig into metalic, rough, and eerie sounds, industrial grooves, and a haunting soundscape.
For more info on Giant Mine’s toxic legacy, click here.
thanks to Canada Council for the Arts, Mount Alison, and the GNWT ITI SEED program for help getting to the East Coast to see the premiere.