Iraqi Oud Masters Together: World renowned musicians come together for unique benefit concert

Friday, March 6

Tickets on sale February 20

On Friday, March 6, 2009 Iraqi-American Rahim Al Haj and Iraqi-Israeli Yair Dalal, both masters of the oud (arabic lute), original composers, and keepers of traditional Iraqi music will perform separately and together in a concert to raise funds for Iraqi refugees, including those settling locally. This rare concert will take place at 8:00 pm at the Unitarian Church of Ithaca on the corner of Buffalo and Aurora Streets in downtown Ithaca. Tickets will be on sale starting February 20th at Small World Music, and Ithaca Guitar Works: $24. Students and seniors pay $16 in advance or $20 at the door. All proceeds for will go to Iraqi Refugees Assistance Connection, a fund of the CRESP Center for Transformative Action.

This concert is a collaborative production of Crossing Borders concert series www.crossingborderslive.org and Sonic Planet, an international music radio show airing on WICB 91.7 FM Ithaca Saturdays from 5-7pm.

Rahim AlHaj, virtuoso oud musician and composer, was born in Baghdad, Iraq and began playing the oud (the grandfather of all stringed instruments) at age nine. Mr. Alhaj studied under the renowned Munir Bashir, considered by many to be the greatest oud player ever. In 1991, after the first Gulf War, Mr. AlHaj 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 AlHaj has performed hundreds of concerts all over the world. Rahim's music delicately combines traditional Iraqi maqams 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". www.rahimalhaj.com

Yair Dalal, born in 1955; composer, violinist, oud player and singer; Dalal's work reflects his extensive musical skills in both classical and Arabic music and also reflects a strong affinity he has for the desert and its habitants. Dalal's family came to Israel from Baghdad and his Iraqi roots are embedded in his musical work. Dalal creates new Middle Eastern music by interweaving the traditions of Iraqi and Jewish Arabic music with a range of influences originating from such diverse cultural milieus as the Balkans to India. The evocative compositions comprise a unique and colorful sound. www.yairdalal.com

Iraqi Refugees Assistance Connection, co-founded by Ithacan Maura Stephens, helps Iraqi interpreters/translators navigate the various U.S. government bureaucracies (US Citizenship and Immigration Service, Department of State, National Visa Center, US embassies) as swiftly and painlessly as possible so that they can be issued special immigrant visas (SIVs) to find safe haven in the U.S. SIVs are a category of visa established to protect and bring to safety these Iraqi interpreters whose lives have been threatened by death squads because they worked for U.S. military forces or civilian groups in Iraq.