This class is not currently being offered in our catalog.
This class is not currently being offered in our catalog.
Rahim AlHaj has been hailed as one of world’s finest oud players. His work encompasses both the traditional and the contemporary, delicately combining traditional Iraqi maqamat with contemporary styling and influence. His compositions evoke the experience of exile from his homeland and of new beginnings in his adopted country. His pieces establish new concepts without altering the foundation of the traditional “Iraqi School of Oud”. In this workshop, you will explore the Iraqi School of Oud including understanding Iraqi maqam. Rahim will demonstrate oud technique, tonality, correct posture and positioning, and other secrets to becoming a more accomplished oud player.
A virtuoso oud musician and composer, Rahim was born in Baghdad, Iraq and began playing the oud (the grandfather of all stringed instruments) at age nine. Early on, it was evident that he had a remarkable talent for playing the oud. Mr. Alhaj studied under the renowned Munir Bashir, considered by many to be the greatest oud player of 20th Century, and Salim Abdul Kareem, at the Institute of Music in Baghdad, Iraq. Rahim won various awards at the Conservatory and graduated in 1990 with a diploma in composition. He holds a degree in Arabic Literature from Mustunsariya University in Baghdad. In 1991, after the first Gulf War, Rahim was forced to leave Iraq due to his 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 became a US citizen on August 15, 2008. In 2009, Rahim was awarded the prestigious US Artist Ford Fellowship Grant and in 2015 he was awarded the National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellowship, the highest honor for traditional arts in the USA.
Rahim has performed around the globe and has won many accolades and awards including two Grammy nominations. He has recorded and performed with other master musicians of varied backgrounds and styles including genre-busting American guitarist Bill Frisell, modern accordion innovator Guy Klucevsek, Indian sarod maestro Amjad Ali Khan, indie-rock pioneers R.E.M., and the Seattle Symphony. Rahim records for Smithsonian Folkways, with a new album in the works for late 2021. He has composed pieces for solo oud, trio, string quartet, symphony, and beyond.
Rahim, who taught composition at the University of New Mexico for three years, has presented workshops and residencies across North America including the Universtity of Texas, Yale University, the University of Maryland, the University of Iowa, the University of Chicago, and scores more.
