Ali Jihad Racy has been played on NTS in shows including Kutmah Presents: Sketchbook Radio, featured first on 2 August 2021. Songs played include Maqām Bayyātī, The Land Of The Blessed and The Holy Lotus.

Born in Lebanon, Professor Racy is a renowned expert in Arab music, having studied and documented numerous musical traditions found throughout the Middle East, in addition to his accomplishments as a composer and performer himself. With over 70 publications to his name, on subjects varying from laments of Lebanon, and Bedouin music, to folk instruments of the Near East, and music of the Arabian Gulf region.

Currently he is director of the Near East Music Ensemble, he has performed in many high profile venues from Carnegie Hall, to the Kennedy Center, and has composed and performed music for television, feature and documentary films. He has also collaborated with numerous musical outfits and ensembles, such as the Kronos Quartet, and the Sacramento Symphony and Livermore-Amador Symphony orchestras.