The Getty Center
1200 Getty Center Dr
310.440.7300
This event has passed.
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Rahim AlHaj and Souhail Kaspar, Photo: Douglas Kent Hall
- When
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Saturday Feb 7, 2009 (7:30pm)
Sunday Feb 8, 2009 (3pm)
- Where
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- Price
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FREE w/ RSVP
- Links
If the American occupation of Iraq has achieved one positive thing, it's the rediscovery of the country's rich musical history. Playing at the Getty Center, Rahim AlHaj trots out one of the oldest instruments in the world: the oud. An 11-stringed predecessor to the lute, the instrument was first played in Mesopotamia over 5,000 years ago. AlHaj fled Iraq in 1991 because of musical persecution in the name of Islam; things are getting better for Iraqi musicians, but there are still stories of religious extremists smashing instruments and terrorizing players. Alongside tabla player Souhail Kaspar, AlHaj recreates the sound that defines the Middle East, from the Bedouin tents of Morocco to the Fertile Crescent of the Near East.
