Alif Laila, one of Bangladesh’s most accomplished sitar players, will perform at Washington’s Kennedy Centre on 20 August.

Laila hopes a new generation of Americans will learn about this exotic instrument when she ‘takes the expressions of Indian classical music to new dimensions’ during the performance, reports the Diplomatic Pouch of the Washington Diplomat.

Laila will be joined by Nitin Mitta on the tabla.

The event is presented by the Advancement and Promotion of Charitable Activities (APCA), a non-profit organisation that supports talent in music, theatre and the arts.

At least 200 people are expected, said Laila, who has been teaching sitar for more than 25 years.

‘The energy of Indian classical music has spread beyond its traditional audience, and I hope this energy will now reach a larger world audience,’ Laila told the Diplomatic Pouch.

‘I’m very excited to share my work with the younger generation, and to expand boundaries through the combination of art and music.’

During the event, the mood of the ragas will be enhanced by images of Laila’s original watercolour painting projections.

Laila has performed many concerts at the Washington embassies of both her native Bangladesh and of neighbouring India — birthplace of the sitar. She also played sitar at the Kennedy Centre’s Terrace Theatre on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the birth of Swami Vivek Ananda.

Dhaka-born Laila began her training in sitar under Ustad Mir Qasem Khan, nephew of the legendary maestro Ustad Alauddin Khan, who also happened to be famed Indian musician Ravi Shankar’s guru.

After graduating from the College of Fine Arts in Dhaka in 1981, Laila eventually moved to the United States and continued studying music with various gurus influenced by Pandit Nikhil Banerjee, one of the greatest sitarists of all time.

Through her friendship with respected Indian tabla player Pandit Anindo Chatterjee (who performed during President Obama’s visit to New Delhi in November 2010), Laila met Ravi Shankar — the legendary sitarist who in 1971 helped George Harrison produce his ‘Concert for Bangladesh’ to raise money for starving war refugees.

In addition to the Kennedy Centre, Laila has recorded nine CDs. They include titles like ‘I Am a River,’ ‘The Inner Voice,’ ‘Devotion’ and ‘Meditation With Sitar.

She’s also performed at Washington’s Shakespeare Theatre, London’s South Bank Centre, the Bengal Festival in Dhaka and the India International Centre in New Delhi. Her performance, ‘Music for Peace,’ at UNESCO’s Paris headquarters was presented by the Embassy of Bangladesh in France.

More recently, Laila — whose full name means ‘1,001 nights’ in Arabic — performed at the Women in Music Festival presented by SAMA Arts Network in London. She’s also featured in the Touring Artists Roster of the Maryland State Arts Council.Laila said that to be a successful sitar player, it takes more than talent; you need both patience and persistence.

‘The path to mastering the sitar demands total dedication and devotion,’ she said.

‘It took me a whole lifetime to be able to convey my thoughts and feelings through the sitar. You have to believe in yourself.’

For more information on the upcoming concert, one can contact APCA at kumar@apca-usa.org or call (301) 299-6463.