HOST (IN ARABIC):
Mr. Rahim AlHaj is known as one of the few finest oud musicians of our time.
Born in Baghdad，Iraq，the son of a legendary oud maker，he fell in love with the instrument at a young age. With his remarkable talent discovered early on，Rahim AlHaj studied with the renowned oud artist Munir Bashir，considered worldwide to be the greatest oud player of the ２０th century.
 
Rahim AlHaj has received two Grammy Award nominations for his original performances and is known for his collaborations with artists of various cultures. Since ２０００，he has lived in the United States，and through his fascinating performances and stories，has been sharing the true Iraq with audiences around the world.

Rahim AlHaj (m):
When we make our music，we make it really sad，but it's very soulful. And we make，for  example，songs，we depend on the poetry，where the poetry is so important to Arab country，specifically in Iraq where the poetry is more important than music itself. So，they integrate between the strong words
and spoken words as a poetry，and the same time to compose the music inside this song and to make it more powerful. So I would say Iraqi music，in general，is more soulful，sad music，and also has hope.  
If you think about it，it has has certain hope when you listen to it，and you think that，"Oh，there's some certain element that makes Iraqi music so specific and so um unique at the same time.