Omar Bashir was born to be a musician. The son of late influential oud player Munir Bashir (1930-1997), Bashir has continued to explore the mode-based, raga-like Arabic Taqsim that his father helped to bring to the international stage. Taught to play the oud at the age of five by his father, Bashir studied music and ballet in Baghdad two years later. Graduating from the Academy of Music and Ballet, he went on to study art at the Conservatory of Baghdad. Since returning to Hungary, Bashir has taught choir singing and music theory for the music department at Baghdad's University of Sciences. ~ Craig Harris