About

Nicholas Daly is a composer, artist, and researcher whose work explores philosophy of language, religion, and global cultural exchange. His musical compositions grow out of a personal, embodied harmonic and rhythmic language developed through a lifelong guitar practice, oriented conceptually through academic study in philosophy and theology, and expanded into works for chamber ensemble, orchestra or large ensemble, and solo instruments.

Recent works include SEAWATER, a trilogy of pieces for contemporary chamber ensemble on yearning and the symbolism of water; Crickets, a string quartet exploring insect rhythms and timbres as part of a larger allegorical musical suite, The Bog Frog Fantasia; and the upcoming Awālim al-Mithāl / عوالم المثال (Worlds of the Imaginal), a multi-part compositional cycle tracing the intertwined musical, linguistic, literary, and philosophical lineages of the Persian, Arabic, and Turkic worlds. Daly is also the creator of The Compositional Bestiary, an interactive gamified catalogue of concrete compositional techniques drawn from both classical and contemporary practice which aims to help composers cultivate their unique compositional language and develop their craft.