Visit event page to purchase tickets: http://ums.org/performance/asif-ali-khan-qawwali-music-of-pakistan/

UMS brings Asif Ali Khan to Ann Arbor in conjunction with UMMA's exhibition of Doris Duke's Shangri La: Architecture, Landscape, and Islamic Art on view through May 4, 2014. To learn more about UMMA's exhibition, visit www.umma.umich.edu. For information about related programs, visit http://www.umma.umich.edu/insider/duke-programs

If the late, great Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (1948-97) was known as "the emperor of Qawwali," Asif Ali Khan - who was once hailed by the maestro as one of his best students - has surely emerged as the music's reigning prince. Asif is a superstar in his native Pakistan and a powerful figure on the international stage, remaining faithful to the sublime traditions of devotional Sufi music. His music can be meditative and trance-inducing, before, at a turn, becoming thrilling and ecstatic. To hear his voice soaring above the call-and-response choruses, rhythmic hand claps, percussion, and harmonium of his accompanying musicians is an inspiring experience whether you're an adherent of the Sufi faith or not.