Naseer Shamma

Iraqi composer and one of the world's foremost oud virtuosos, and the founder of Tareeq Alzuhoor Charity. He was named a UNESCO Artist for Peace in 2017, and serves as Goodwill Ambassador for the Iraqi Red Crescent and for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in the Middle East and North Africa.

Born in Al-Kut, central Iraq, in 1963, he graduated from Baghdad's Institute of Musical Studies in 1987. He reconstructed the eight-string oud from a thousand-year-old diagram by the philosopher Al-Farabi, and developed a technique for playing the instrument with one hand so that children who had lost an arm in the war could still play. In 1999 he founded Beit Al-Oud Al-Arabi in Cairo — the first school anywhere dedicated to teaching the oud as a solo instrument — later opening branches in Abu Dhabi, Alexandria, Baghdad and Khartoum.

In 2005 he founded Tareeq Alzuhoor Charity to bring life-saving care to Iraqi children with congenital heart disease. His lifelong commitment to the children of war, and to dialogue through music, is woven into the spirit of our mission.

Selected milestones

• 1963 — Born in Al-Kut, central Iraq.
• 1985 — First international concert, in Paris, alongside Munir Bashir.
• 1986 — Reconstructed the eight-string oud from Al-Farabi's thousand-year-old design.
• 1987 — Graduated from Baghdad's Institute of Musical Studies.
• 1999 — Founded Beit Al-Oud Al-Arabi in Cairo, later expanded to Abu Dhabi, Alexandria, Baghdad and Khartoum.
• 2005 — Founded Tareeq Alzuhoor Charity to treat Iraqi children with congenital heart disease.
• 2017 — Named UNESCO Artist for Peace.

Further sources: UNESCO Artist for Peace announcement; IFRC coverage documenting his humanitarian role in 2019.