“Cretan Connections” are coming to one of the most famous stages in the world on December 4th when Cretan lyra virtuoso Ross Daly performs music from the historic musical tradition of Greece.
Ross Daly is no ordinary Cretan musician. Although of Irish descent, Daly has been living on the island for more than 35 years and has become one with the locals.
Daly, at a very early age, discovered that music was, in his own words, “the language of my dialogue with that which I perceive to be sacred.” This dialogue eventually led him to the great modal music traditions of the Middle East, Central Asia, and the Indian subcontinent, where he finally found the musical archetypes that he had been searching for all his life.
In these traditions, he encountered music that was not merely a vehicle of self-expression, but music that was able to take one beyond what was normally perceived to be the boundaries of one’s self into other trans-personal realms of experience. He subsequently traveled extensively, studying under many of the world’s greatest masters of modal traditions.
Daly and his group, comprised of fellow lyra player Kelly Thoma, who has been playing alongside Daly since 1995; and Volos-born Marijia Katsouna, a percussionist, will perform a 90-minute show at Carnegie Hall on December 4, 2015. Tickets range from $29 to $38 and can be purchased online here.
Listen to Erotokritos, one of the most famous Cretan songs of all time, performed on the lyra by Ross Daly.