Alif Laila

About the Artist

Alif Laila is one of the few internationally performing female sitar players of the world. She was trained in Indian classical music through sitar in Dhaka, Bangladesh. By Mir Qasem Khan, nephew of legendary maestro, Allauddin Khan. During her final years of training, she attended the College of Fine Arts in Dhaka, where she graduated in 1981 with a bachelor’s degree and received several awards for her watercolor painting. In 1988, she moved to the United States. She was fortunate to continue her study of Indian classical in sitar with teachers, Partha Chatterjee and Krishna Bhatt and Kushal Das. Laila has performed internationally at venues, such as The Purcell Room, London, The Kerala Arts Society, Kerala, India, the National Museum of Bangladesh, Dhaka, SRA/Bengal Foundation Festival, Dhaka, Bangladesh, the India International Center, New Delhi, The Manav Sanghralaya, Bhopal, India. She has performed in the US at venues such as The Kennedy Center in Wash. DC, The Smithsonian in Washington DC, The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, College Park, MD, The Shakespeare Theater, Wash DC, The Metropolitan Museum of Arts, New York, The Harkness Hall, Yale, New Haven CT. Her artistic and creative energy has resulted in directing and producing numerous audiovisual recordings with classical sitar. Her DVD Hridayaragam was featured in the Women’s History Month at the Smithsonian in 2008 and Strings of Resonance was nominated for the ‘Best Classical Music Awards’ in Dhaka Bangladesh in 2010. She has presented her raag-mala paintings in watercolor with ragas performed in sitar in The Capstone Theater, Liverpool and South Bank Center, London, the UK in ’12, hosted by Milapfest, UK. She has performed and recorded with eminent tabla artists, namely: Pandit Anindo Chatterjee and Ustad Taari Khan, Pandit Samar Saha, Ustad Akram Khan, Pandit Sudhir Pande. Laila’s creative work in Indian classical music with different genres of music is her album, ‘I Am a River, combining sitar and jazz-saxophone, her composition with sitar and cello was performed at the Bangladesh Embassy, Washington DC in April’12 One of her ‘Sitar & World percussion’ series was presented at the Atlas Intersection Performing Arts Center, Wash DC. Her duet series “Resonant Moods” with South Indian classical violin, was hosted by the ‘World Artists Experiences’ in October ’14 and Atlas Performing Arts Theater, Wash DC in October ’15. She received an ‘Award of Excellence in 2012 from Asha, a Washington-based women’s rehabilitation organization, for her cultural contribution to the society and community. She was recently selected in the Maryland Performing Artist Touring Roster by the Maryland State Arts Council. She also received the Individual Artist’s Award 2014 from the same and has been featured at the Mid Atlantic Music Conference, in Nov ’14. She recently was awarded a grant from the Arts &Humanities Council Montgomery County, MD for her upcoming CD recording, ‘Ekavali’ (the single thread)with Tanmoy Bose, with world melodies and percussion. “Melodies of Monsoon” presented in the Embassy of India, Wash DC on August 3rd ’15, with sitar, flute, mridangam, and tabla, was designed and directed by her. Laila 'sCD is titled ‘The Chakra’, depicting the cycle of energy. In May ’14, she digitally released her CD, ‘Amma’ a tribute to her mother, who is an inspiration to her music and life. She has released eight Indian classical sitar CDs and two DVDs. Laila recently established her music school ‘Sitar Niketan’ in the Wash DC metro area. www.aliflailasitar.com. sitarniketan.viewcy.com