Turning 80 next month, Donovan grew up in a working-class part of Glasgow, and ­Scottish-Irish music was a constant in his home. “There were no musical instruments,” he says, of this time. “But ...

Today's Beautiful Music is an introduction to the hurdy-gurdy. The unusual string instrument is played with a hand crank, and its ancestor -- the organistrum -- dates back at least to the 12th century ...

Twenty-seven years ago, in search of a hurdy-gurdy master, Donald Heller wandered into a music shop in Budapest. There, he saw a beautiful maiden, an ancient-looking stringed instrument in her lap, ...

"It was mesmerizing. The sounds that came out of [the hurdy gurdy] - there was no way I couldn't not play this instrument" For Ryan Kurczak, the path to playing the hurdy gurdy started with an unusual ...