Daughter of the Sufi preacher and musician, Hazrat Inayat Khan, Noor was brought up in a musical tradition herself and played the veena and the harp. She would have been a writer and a musician if the outbreak of war in Europe had not changed the course of her life forever. Anoushka, the daughter of the famous sitar player Pandit Ravi Shankar, has been devoted to learning Indian classical music, carrying on the tradition of her father and keeping it alive for the next generation. Though born and brought up in the west, she learnt to play the sitar from her father and gave her first public performance with him in India at the age of thirteen.

“It is a privilege to play for Noor at this concert. She was a brave Indian woman who did not hesitate to sacrifice her life for freedom. The fact that she was a musician as well makes it even more special,” said Anoushka Shankar, who is performing without a fee for the concert.

The Memorial for Noor Inayat Khan will be installed in Gordon Square in London in 2012. It is being sculpted by well-known artist Karen Newman. It will be the first statue of an Asian woman in Britain.

“We are delighted that Anoushka Shankar has so graciously accepted to perform for Noor Inayat Khan. It will be a meaningful tribute from one young Indian woman to another,” said Shrabani Basu, chair of the Noor Inayat Khan Memorial Trust. “They may have lived decades apart, but they are a wonderful reflection of Indian women then and now: talented, brave and at the same time gentle and committed.”

The concert is being organised by the Noor Inayat Khan Memorial Trust in association with Culturepot Global. Tickets cost £50 pp. For details contact noor.memorial@gmail.com, call 0208 904 2533 or visit www.noormemorial.org