The Embassy Series is very pleased and excited to announce the first concert of our Fall/Winter season with a very special opportunity to celebrate traditional and contemporary music that emerges from the heart of ancient Mesopotamia, widely known as the "Cradle of Civilization." Through this concert we will celebrate music and culture from a region that saw the first emergence of cities, writing, and organized governments, and later became a global center for arts, science, and learning during the Islamic Golden Age. The band is distinguished by its authentic heritage spirit, derived from the lives and tastes of its ancestors.

The music of Iraq or Iraqi music, also known as the music of Mesopotamia, encompasses the music of a number of ethnic groups and musical genres. Ethnically, it includes Mesopotamian Arabic, Assyrian, Kurdish and the music of Turkmen, among others. Apart from the traditional music of these peoples, Iraqi music includes contemporary music styles such as pop, rock, soul and urban contemporary. Iraq is recognized mainly for three instruments, the Oud, Iraqi Santur and Joza. The country's oud playing tradition has become its own school and a reference. It is illustrated specially by the figure of the acclaimed Munir Bashir. Other renowned Oudists are Naseer Shamma, Omar Bashir, Jamil Bachir, Ahmed Mukhtar, Rahim AlHaj, and Sahar Taha.

The Asala Kirkuk Band comprises a group of academic and spiritual artists who have been working in the field of traditional art for more than seven years. The band is distinguished by its authentic heritage spirit, derived from the lives and tastes of our ancestors. Its diversity reflects the beauty of Kirkuk Governorate, rich in its customs, traditions, and arts, known as "Little Iraq" for its unique cultural diversity.