Sitar maestro Ravi Shankar took a leap of faith when he introduced his Indian classical sounds to the Beatles in the 1960s, merging rock ’n’ roll with ragas. Today, his daughter and No 1 student, Anoushka Shankar, is taking a leap of her own. Her latest album, Breathing Under Water – a sitar-electronica journey – is a collaborative effort with the spunky and progressive Indian-American percussionist Karsh Kale. Like Shankar herself, the songs are a blend of London pop-symphonics, Californian new-age spirit and Indian soul.

Shankar’s Singapore appearance later this month will be the only South-East Asian stop on her ‘Anoushka Shankar Project’ tour. And ‘Project’ is an apt name for music that brings genres and worlds together the way she does. Breathing Under Water is not just a series of original compositions, it’s a global experiment that puts American folk music next to Euro-style techno, vocal stylings by Sting and half-sister Norah Jones next to Indian instrumental interludes. On tour, the songs will be put to the test as Shankar adapts them to an acoustic setting (without Kale), and plays them alongside classical ragas. She will be joined by Tanmoy Bose (search ‘Anoushka Tanmoy’ on YouTube to see what he can do on the tabla, a pair of Indian hand drums), Ravichandra Kulur (flute), Leo Dombecki (piano), Barry Phillips (cello and tanpura, an Indian lute) and Nick Able (tanpura).

If you’ve never seen live Indian classical music, this may be an opportunity to get a first, easy-on-the-palate taste.

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WIN TICKETS TO SEE THE ANOUSHKA SHANKAR PROJECT.