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A new contemporary music series from the Black Gate Cultural Centre in Galway City launches exclusively on the TG4 Player

CUMASC: Seisiúin sa Black Gate
A new music series launching this February on the TG4 Player

31.01.22

CUMASC: Seisiúin sa Black Gate is a new 12-part music series that blends gorgeous concert film with intimate observational documentary and interviews. It showcases concert performances recorded live at The Black Gate Cultural Centre in the heart of Galway, and behind the scenes footage and interviews are filmed in a variety of striking locations around the city and surrounding countryside.

CUMASC: Seisiúin sa Black Gate was commissioned for TG4 under the BAI’s separate Live Music Sector funding stream. This initiative was created to support a the live music sector that suffered as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

CUMASC is a lovingly curated showcase of emerging and established artists, both Irish and international. These artists come together in celebration of collaboration and creativity; many meeting for the very first time. The series opens with Grammy-award-winning American musician, Rhiannon Giddens, Italian composer, Francesco Turrisi, and Connemara-born sean-nós singer, Róisín Elsafty. These three wonderful artists present a gorgeously inventive collaboration that draws from three distinct folk traditions and melds them perfectly. It is a wonderful moment in a series full of them.

Electronic musician Daithí Ó Drónaí and vocalist, songwriter and violinist Suzanne Savage get lost in improvisation and write an electrifying new song about a lightning strike on Suzanne’s train that very morning. American singer-songwriter Sam Amidon sits in a boat on the River Corrib, the warmth of his playing and song puncturing the lingering greys of the Galway morning sky. Singer-songwriter John Conneely and soulful performer Síomha breathe new life and beautiful harmonies into old classics and older castles. Revered stalwarts Liam Ó Maonlaí, Niwel Tsumbu, and Eamonn Cagney talk of musical possibilities as innumerable as the stars in the sky before embarking on an improvised and celebratory jam.

That is only a sample of the talent on show throughout the series. Rachael Lavelle, Peter Broderick, Seamus Begley, Junior Brother, Seamie O’Dowd, Daoirí Farrell, Anna Mullarkey, David Kitt, Colm Mac Con Iomaire, Arborist, John Blek, Inni-K, Jinx Lennon, and The Mary Wallopers also lend their immense musical talents.

CUMASC: Seisiúin sa Black Gate is funded by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) and will be launched as a digital first series on the TG4 Player, available on Smart TVs Samsung, Sony and LG, OTT devices such as Apple TV, Google TV and Amazon Fire, and on mobile platforms ios and and google playstore. The series will broadcast at a later date on TG4.

Potential. Connection. Collaboration. Creativity. These are just some of the tenets at the heart of The Black Gate Cultural Centre, the creative hub that birthed this series. Under one roof it houses a wine bar, a renowned music venue, a state-of-the-art recording studio, an editing suite, and is home to both the Black Gate Label – their record label – and Black Gate Productions – their production company. A space of character and community since its opening in 2017, defined by collaboration. CUMASC is therefore the perfect distillation of those core beliefs.

Speaking about the series, Mairéad Ní Thréinir – a producer at Black Gate Productions – had this to say: “We are so proud that CUMASC; Seisiúin sa Black Gate, is Black Gate Production’s very first television commission. We are proud that it stems organically from our venue’s unique relationship with musicians and artists from all over Ireland and abroad. We are especially proud to showcase our deep respect for our native tongue. CUMASC was commissioned for TG4 through a special BAI round, the Live Music Sector funding stream. This initiative was created to support a sector that was – and still is – severely suffering under the constraints of the pandemic. The production of this series not only created opportunities for musicians and production crew, but also enabled us to re-train live-performance crew in television production.”