In 1991, after the first Gulf War, Mr. AlHaj was forced to leave Iraq due to his political activism against the Saddam Hussein regime and began his life in Jordan and Syria. He moved to the US in 2000 as a political refugee and has resided in Albuquerque, NM ever since.

Rahim AlHaj has performed all over the world, on tour with Munir Bashir, his teacher, as well as solo and with his string quartet project, including numerous concerts in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Egypt, and France and hundreds of concerts in the United States. Mr. AlHaj has two CDs, The Second Baghdad, released in 2002 and Iraqi Music in a Time of War, released in 2003, both produced by Voxlox record label.

Rahim has a new "East meets West" CD entitled: Friendship: Oud & String Quartet to be released in 2005 by Fast Horse Recordings and two CD's scheduled for release in 2006: his Music and Rhythms of Iraq CD to be produced by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings and an oud & sarod CD with Umjad Ali Khan. Rahim won the Albuquerque Arts Alliance Bravo Award 2003 for Excellence in Music.

Rahim says that "my music invites the listener to discover the true spirit of the musician." His compositions are about loss, hope, freedom, and longing. His songs establish new concepts without altering the foundation of the traditional Iraqi School of oud based in Baghdad. Mr. AlHaj’s CD’s have become best sellers and are frequently featured on national radio shows and movies, including Amy Goodman and Democracy Now and NPR’s Studio 360.

Video

“Rast” Live in studio for Smithsonian Folkways

Photos

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