Sitar  player  and  composer  Anoushka  Shankar  is  a  singular  figure  in  the  Indian  classical  and  progressive  world  music  scenes.  Her  dynamic  and  spiritual  musicality  has  garnered  six  Grammy®  nominations,  recognition  as  the  youngest  –  and  first  female  –  recipient  of  a  British  House  of  Commons  Shield,  credit  as  an  Asian  Hero  by  TIME  Magazine,  and  a  Songlines  Best  Artist  Award.  Anoushka  studied  under  her  father  and  guru-  the  late  Ravi  Shankar-  from  childhood,  and  made  her  professional  debut  as  a  classical  sitarist  at  the  age  of  thirteen.  By  the  age  of  20,  she  had  made  three  classical  recordings  and  received  her  first  Grammy®  nomination,  becoming  the  first  female  and  youngest-ever  nominee  in  the  World  Music  category.  In  2005,  Anoushka  released  her  self-produced  album  Rise,  which  earned  her  a  second  Grammy®  nomination  and  signified  a  move  into  a  more  creatively  experimental  phase  as  a  composer.  Through  her  bold  and  collaborative  approach,  as  most  recently  evidenced  on  the  ground-breaking  albums  Land  of  Gold,  Traces  of  You  and  Traveller,  Anoushka  has  encouraged  cross-cultural  dialogue  whilst  demonstrating  the  versatility  of  the  sitar  across  musical  genres.  Besides  her  musical  career,  Anoushka  is  known  for  her  activism.  Land  of  Gold  was  written  in  response  to  the  ongoing  global  refugee  crisis  as  a  plea  for  compassion  and  empathy  and  against  ever-closing  borders.  She  has  been  vocal  about  her  own  childhood  abuse  in  support  of  organisations  against  sexual  violence  and  wrote  a  song,  In  Jyoti’s  Name,  in  response  to  the  horrific  gang-rape  of  Jyoti  Singh  Pandey,  which  shocked  the  world  in  2012.  Anoushka  hosted  a  radio  show  about  gender  equality  to  promote  the  United  Nations  Sustainable  Development  Goals,  and  most  recently  narrated  Stolen  Innocence,  a  documentary  film  about  human  trafficking.Anoushka  premiered  her  father  and  Philip  Glass’  composition  at  The  Royal  Albert  Hall  for  the  coveted  BBC  Proms  in  2017  and  since  then  has  extensively  toured  her  live  show  of  album  Land  of  Gold  across  Australia,  Asia  and  USA.  She  recently  scored  her  first  film,  Shiraz,  a  German  -  Indian  silent  made  in  1928  which  was  commissioned  by  the  BFI  and  has  received  a  highly  positive  response.