Sitar queen Anoushka Shankar on how Joe Hisaishi and Björk inspired her, coming to Hong Kong and collaborating with Norah Jones

Welcome back to Hong Kong. It has been a while since your last performance here. What can the audience expect from this upcoming concert, and how will it differ from your previous visit?
The only time I have ever performed in Hong Kong was more than 20 years ago as part of my father’s ensemble. That was a very traditional Indian classical concert, and I have never done my own headline show there. There has been a massive evolution in my playing style and sonic identity since then.

This upcoming performance is an orchestral show, which makes it fundamentally different. We are presenting a unique symphonic adaptation of my last three albums, woven together into three distinct movements rather than a standard song-after-song format. The first movement charts a tender transition out of a major life event; the second centres on a deeply intimate nighttime space of healing and reflection; and the third bursts into a highly energetic new day.

What are the creative and technical challenges of marrying the sitar with a Western orchestra like the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong?
When you strip both great traditions down to their common denominators, you face a very minimal palette because Indian music operates on the raga system. It is entirely based on complex melody forms rather than Western harmony and counterpoint, and we tend not to modulate. Therefore, an orchestration requires careful balance so it doesn’t just sound like a standard “pop” show augmented by a larger background sound. Working with our conductor and arranger Robert Ames, we managed to use the orchestra to tell the story in a completely fresh way.

The primary technical hurdle is tuning. The sitar was physically engineered for Indian classical spaces. Beneath our main bridge, we have 13 sympathetic resonating strings that create that instantly recognisable, shimmering sitar drone. They must be tuned precisely to the specific scale of the piece. Because an orchestra shifts keys rapidly, I have to structure the pieces intelligently so I can retune under the cover of the orchestra playing, using a mute pedal to hear myself without inflicting that process on the audience.

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Your work blends ancient classical roots with contemporary styles. How did you first begin crossing these genre boundaries?
From the very beginning of my career as a composer, I simply wanted to write music that honestly reflected who I am and the cosmopolitan world I was experiencing. While I spent my childhood immersed in ancient Indian culture and music with my family, I was simultaneously growing up across three different continents—living in London, a highly metropolitan New Delhi, and California. Moving fluidly between these cultures made a crossover style feel completely organic to me.

Which artists or genres outside of the classical realm shaped your musical perspective during your formative years?
As a teenager in the Nineties, I used to step away from intensive classical training to listen to hip-hop, trip-hop and heavy electronic music. I was deeply influenced by the avant-garde sounds of Björk, Massive Attack, Portishead, Nine Inch Nails and Rage Against the Machine. That music allowed me to be a wild teenager before walking back into formal concert halls. I was also captivated by the Sixties and Seventies soul, folk, and pure melodic songwriting.

Interestingly, the rise of the modern neoclassical movement over the last 15 years has created a beautiful parallel for what I do. It has shown the public that classical music is not a stagnant museum piece—it is supposed to evolve to reflect our current era.

Having visited places like Hong Kong, does the city or the greater region of Asia inspire your music in any way?
Absolutely. My son recently introduced me to a wonderful Japanese band called Lamp, which features these gorgeous pentatonic melodies rooted in older Japanese traditions. But Joe Hisaishi’s compositions are deeply special. There was a period when I was writing new material and found myself listening to his score for Studio Ghibli's The Tale of the Princess Kaguya on repeat. The celestial parade music at the end of that film, when the princess is taken back to heaven, is so simple, emotionally pure and devastatingly beautiful. Creative inspiration can come from the most unexpected places.

The sitar has historically been perceived as a male-dominated instrument. Have you seen the industry become more inclusive for female instrumentalists?
Historically, there have never been any cultural rules forbidding women from mastering the sitar. If you look at my own musical genealogy centuries ago, our lineage was founded equally by our guru’s son and daughter, the latter of whom remains a deeply revered musical figure.

The imbalance isn't specific to the music itself; it is a reflection of broader societal structures. I meet countless exceptional female students who play the sitar beautifully. However, once you transition to the professional international touring circuit, the numbers drop significantly. Touring is an incredibly demanding lifestyle that requires leaving home for long stretches. Traditional, patriarchal societies are set up to provide a male artist with a domestic support structure at home, whereas female artists are rarely afforded that same luxury. The solution requires industry-wide platforms alongside private, domestic shifts.

Your collaborations with your sister, Norah Jones, are adored by fans worldwide. Despite working in completely different genres, what makes your musical relationship work so beautifully?
Ironically, despite our vastly different musical styles, the exact skill we share in common is a profound love for, and mastery of, the art of collaboration. Norah has an incredibly open ear and mind, and I have spent over two decades collaborating across genres, from flamenco and jazz to working with pop icons like Jacob Collier and the Gorillaz. When we step into a studio together, we can lean into that shared collaborative shorthand alongside our deep family connection. There are no concrete projects on paper right now, but because we are sisters, that mutual curiosity always pulls us back together. More collaborations in the future are a certainty.

Looking ahead, what can you reveal about your future creative projects?
This has been an incredibly fulfilling year. Following this orchestral chapter, I will be embarking on a tour of East Asia in October with my core instrumental quartet, including my very first series of shows in mainland China, alongside returns to Japan, Malaysia and Thailand. In contrast to the grand, calibrated architecture of the orchestral show, the quartet allows us to play this repertoire in a wilder, more unhinged, and heavily improvisational style.

Beyond touring, I am currently composing for a few non-album projects, including a television series and a musical theatre piece, before diving into the recording studio to carve out my next studio album next year.

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