Alif Laila
Dakshina is proud to host Alif Laila
Art of Peace
A Sitar Concert Commemorating Mahatma Gandhi’s Birthday
Sunday October 4, 2009 6:30 pm
Busboys @ 14th & V. 2021 14th St, DC
RSVP required. Email RSVP@dakshina.org.
Alif Laila was born and raised in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Her connection with the arts was very deep since early childhood. After initial training in vocal music, she was eventually was inspired to learn the sitar by her mother, Shehida, in Dhaka, Bangladesh. She was trained on a ‘one to one’ basis in the techniques and compositions of the classical music by Ustad Mir Qasem Khan, nephew of Ustad Allauddin Khan, founder of the Senia Maihar school of music. Alif’s passion for the arts was beyond music alone. She attended the College of Fine Arts in Dhaka where she graduated with a Bachelor’s degree and received several awards for her water color. The world of rhythm and tone in drawing and painting gradually merged with her music and her love story with the arts began.
She was fortunate to receive guidance from teachers like Partha Chatterjee and Krishna Bhatt and blessings from Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. She has performed extensively in many prestigious venues in Bangladesh, India and the USA.World renowned tabla artists like Pandit Anindo Chatterjee, Ustad Taari Khan has recorded with her. In 2007 Her DVD ‘Hrydayaragam’ was presented in The Smithsonian. She has recently recorded another DVD, Strings of Resonance, presenting the Indian Classical music as a mirror of the heritage of the land of its origins.
With devotion and dedication Alif embraces the Sitar as the instrument of her of her soul.
For more information please visit her website: www.aliflailasitar.com and blog: aliflailasitar.blogspot.com