13 Facts About Rahim AlHaj

Rahim AlHaj is an Iraqi American oud musician and composer.

Rahim AlHaj studied under the renowned Munir Bashir, considered by many to be the greatest oud player ever, and Salim Abdul Kareem, at the Institute of Music in Baghdad, Iraq.

Rahim AlHaj won various awards at the conservatory and graduated in 1990 with a diploma in composition.

Rahim AlHaj holds a degree in Arabic literature from Mustansiriya University in Baghdad.

In 1991, after the first Gulf War, Rahim AlHaj was forced to leave Iraq due to his political activism against the Saddam Hussein regime and began his life in Jordan and Syria.

Rahim AlHaj moved to the US in 2000 as a political refugee and has resided in Albuquerque, New Mexico, ever since.

Rahim AlHaj became a US citizen on August 16,2008.

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.

Rahim AlHaj's East meets West CD entitled Friendship was released in December 2005 by Fast Horse Recordings.

Rahim AlHaj's compositions are about the experience of exile from his homeland and of new beginnings in his adopted country.

Rahim AlHaj is one of the true oud masters from Iraq.

Rahim AlHaj's songs establish new concepts without altering the foundation of the traditional Iraqi School of oud based in Baghdad.

Rahim AlHaj wrote and performed the music for the award-winning short documentary, The Rest of My Life: Stories of Trauma Survivors.