The Global Gratitude Show with Ross Daly & Kelly Thoma

Ross Daly (born 1952) is a musician, composer, researcher, and musical instrument designer of Irish origin, but who has lived in Greece for most of his life. He is widely recognized for his pioneering work in the field of modal music and for his role in bringing the Cretan lyra into a broader international musical context.

Daly first traveled to Crete in 1970, where he encountered the island’s rich musical traditions and began studying the lyra with local masters. What began as a fascination with Cretan music gradually expanded into a lifelong exploration of modal musical traditions from a vast region extending from Northwest Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean through the Middle East and Central Asia to India. Over the decades he has developed a distinctive musical language that draws on these traditions while remaining highly personal and contemporary.

In 1982 Daly founded the Musical Workshop Labyrinth in the village of Houdetsi on Crete. Conceived as a meeting place for musicians from the many cultures of the “modal world,” Labyrinth has become an internationally respected center for the study, performance, and transmission of modal music. Through seminars, concerts, and collaborative projects, it has hosted leading musicians from numerous traditions and has inspired the creation of branches in several countries.

Alongside his performance and teaching activities, Daly has long been involved in the design and development of musical instruments, particularly bowed instruments with sympathetic strings. One of the best known results of this work is the Nak Tarhu developed in collaboration with Australian instrument maker Peter Biffin.

Ross Daly has performed widely around the world, both as a soloist and with various ensembles, and has recorded numerous albums of original compositions and traditional repertoire. Through his music, research, and educational work he continues to explore modal music as a living tradition and as a profound means of artistic, cultural, and spiritual expression.