Dr Jack Talty features on Irish music TV series Cumasc

21 May 2024

• UCC lecturer in Irish Traditional Music, award-winning musician and composer features on TG4 music series.
• The traditions and imaginations of diverse contemporary Irish and international artists are showcased.
• TG4 music series is a new approach to music television, blending concert film with intimate observational documentary and candid interview.

Dr Jack Talty, UCC lecturer in Irish Traditional Music and award-winning musician and composer, is featured on the latest episode of collaborative music programme ‘Cumasc: Seisiúin sa Black Gate’.

The series invites artists – Irish and international – to come together to explore and celebrate creative expression and innovation across genres. Each episode concludes with a performance of a new piece of music, the result of their collaboration. The series features emerging and established artists, including Iarla Ó Lionáird, Susan O’Neill, Niamh Regan and Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh.

Dr Jack Talty is a lecturer in Irish Traditional Music at UCC where he is the Programme Director of a new Masters in Irish Traditional Music at the Department of Music, UCC. Jack is a multi-award-winning musician, composer, producer, and researcher from county Clare. As a performer, producer, and engineer, Jack has contributed to over 100 albums to date and toured throughout Europe, the United States, Australia, and Asia.

In ‘Cumasc: Seisiúin sa Black Gate’, Dr Jack Talty joins Brìghde Chaimbeul, a leading purveyor of experimental Celtic music. From the Isle of Skye, Scotland, Brìghde has developed an innovative style on the Scottish smallpipes that emphasises rich textural drones and a trance-like constancy of sound. The episode is now available to watch online.

Commenting on the collaboration, Dr Jack Talty, Lecturer in Irish Traditional Music, said: "It was a pleasure to sit down with Brìghde to explore sympathies between our traditions and our individual approaches as musicians. There are some clear points of convergence between Irish and Scottish traditional musics, and it was a rewarding experience to interrogate those areas of overlap while also attempting to say something original as a duet.

“Collaboration and innovation are essential elements of the cultural and creative ecosystem fostered at the Department of Music at UCC. Irish Traditional Music fits very comfortably into a vibrant exploratory environment where anything is possible. Our students and faculty engage in innovative creative practice and research that is both immersed in tradition and highly innovative."

“Our students develop a range of essential skills that significantly enrich their artistic and academic development. This provides them with opportunities to contribute meaningfully to creative practice and scholarship in local, national, and international communities of practices who are passionate about Irish Traditional Music,” Dr Talty said.

Nurturing the next generation of Irish traditional musicians

Applications are now open for a new Masters in Irish Traditional Music which aims to support and empower the next generation of Irish traditional musicians.

The new programme builds on the university’s rich history with Irish traditional music, where students are empowered to develop their own distinctive creative practice and research voices.

For over a century, UCC’s Department of Music has been internationally renowned as a centre of excellence for the study of Irish traditional music.

University College Cork is ranked among the top 100 universities worldwide for Performing Arts in the QS World University Rankings.