ones. In 1951, Bashir took a teaching assignment at the new founded Académie des Beaux-Arts in Baghdad, besides his editorial work for the Iraqi broadcasting. Exploring outside of Iraq Bashir always had an ambivalent relationship to his country: On the one side he felt deeply rooted in the rich cultural heritage of Mesopotamia, on the other side the Iraq had no phases of inner stability during the musicians lifetime. Especially the 1950s and 1960s – the last years of the Hashemite monarchy and a time of military coups following the fall of Faisal II. in 1958 – forced Bashir to work abroad. His reputation had already arrived in Beirut, therefore he was contracted as an accompanyist and also as a "star-soloist" by the legendary Lebanese chanteuse Fairuz immediately when he arrived at the Lebanese capital in 1953. He got to know US and Latino American popular music but intensified his attempts of investigating Middle Eastern musical traditions. Due to his profound musicological knowledge he gained teaching assignments at the musical colleges of Baghdad and Beirut. The years 1953 and 1954 marked the beginning of Bashir's career as an instrument virtuoso. His first concert as a soloist took place 1953 in Istanbul, in the next year the 24-year-old was featured in Iraqi television. 1957 he started several tours leading him to most of the European countries. The difficult political status of his country and the resulting problematic working parameters for musicians forced him to leave the country permanently. Budapest After a sojourn in Beirut, Bashir settled down in Budapest in the beginning 1960s, where he established a place of residence until his death. He married a Hungarian, his son Omar was born 1970 in the Hungarian capital. His son went on to be a musician as well. This city was attractive for the Iraqi not only because of its status as European music metropolis, but for giving him the opportunity to study at the Franz Liszt Conservatory under supervision of Zoltán Kodály, where he did his doctorate in musicology in 1965. Kodály had rendered outstanding services to the preservation of traditional Hungarian songs in collaboration with Béla Bartók. This well corresponded to Bashir's aims and methods concerning his engagement for traditional folk music of his home country. After Kodály's death in 1967 Bashir spent some time in Beirut again. But he was repelled by the development of the Arabian music, which