Asif Sinan, the virtuoso guitarist who makes his guitar sound like a sitar, at the same time fusing it with jazz, is turning out to be a cultural ambassador of sorts. Barely a month after a 12-city tour of the US, Asif Sinan was invited by the government of Germany and the Goethe Institut to represent Pakistan at the Deutches Musik Fest.

With about 15,000 participants and more than 150,000 visitors from all over Europe, Deutches Musik Fest is Germany’s largest music event. This festival brings together different musical genres from all over Europe. However, this is the first time that they reached out to the East. Asif Sinan from Pakistan and a folklore troupe from China were specially invited to perform at the venue. Images on Sunday caught up with Sinan to quiz him about his tour.

Q. It’s the first time the German Music Festival looked east and they chose you. How did that happen?

A. I guess I bring something totally unique — I play a modern Western instrument, i.e. a guitar, but make it sound like the sitar. Germans, as you may know, have a great appreciation and understanding of both jazz and Western classical. However, Eastern classical is something new to them. So when they heard my compositions which are a fusion of jazz and Eastern classical, I guess they decided to look my way.

Q. How long did the festival last for and when did you perform?

A. It was for four days and I was invited to perform on three days at different venues. I was a part of the inaugural show followed by two more shows including one on the last day.

Q. What kind of music did you deliver at Musik Fest?

A. I was surprised to hear requests of my composition of Raag Kirwani from the crowd. So on all the performance days, it was my opening number followed by a jazz-classical fusion piece called Let’s Meet. I also performed other Eastern classical numbers, some jazz and blues compositions as well as Sufi numbers.

Q. How did the audience react to your music?

A. The Germans’ sense of music is highly developed. Almost everyone seems to be a trained musician there. They were quite appreciative of the nuances of our Eastern classical music. Plus, there was always an added excitement due to my sitar-type playing. Inevitably after every show, people would want to touch and inspect my guitar.

Q. As an artist do you think you are contributing to bringing both countries closer?

A. How do you strike friendship with someone? Simply by exchanging ideas on what interests them. And which country is not interested in music? Music is really such a great way to break the ice. Eastern classical music is so melodious and sophisticated that in itself it conveys the kind of people we are. When I play music, I send out a very powerful message: “I am Pakistan, not the Pakistan you see on the news or read about in the papers.”

Q. Any memorable incident during the Fest?

A. Actually, yes. I was surprised to be received by Pakistani students in Germany. They were apparently fans and had followed my Facebook statuses and decided to give my ensemble and me a surprise.

Another was when a German lady (an accomplished pianist) came up to me after the performance and insisting on seeing my guitar. When she saw that it was just a normal acoustic, she repeatedly hugged me and spoke excitedly in German. Though I could not understand her, I felt happy to have brought someone so much joy through my music.

Q. What next?

A. I will be performing with two more international artists in the coming months, followed by an international tour in November. In the meantime my album is being recorded as well and will be released internationally in 2014.