DeKALB – Amirah Ali, a Northern Illinois University alumna who is now an award-winning Malaysian pop singer-songwriter, will return to campus to headline a March 2 performance celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies.

The center will officially mark its 50th anniversary with a slate of events March 1-6, including the March 2 free public concert, featuring traditional and contemporary Southeast Asian performing arts. Ali will close the concert and also perform and talk about her music in a special March 4 meet-the-artist event.

A native of Kuala Lumpur, Ali earned a master’s degree in music at NIU in 2009. She is known for fusing aspects of traditional Malaysian music with elements of modern Western pop. Her debut single, “Katakanlah,” garnered two international songwriting awards, including second place in the worldwide International Songwriting Competition for 2010.