Abisheganaden, Alex

Alexander S. Abisheganaden, widely known as Alex Abisheganaden, (1926 – 2023) was a recipient of the Cultural Medallion award for music and is often referred to as the “Father of the Guitar.” He was considered Singapore’s first home-grown classical guitarist and double bassist. Abisheganaden was born on 31 January 1926, the sixth of seven children, to Arputhanathan Abisheganaden, an immigrant from Tamil Nadu who worked for the then-colonial government in Singapore, and Elizabeth Abisheganaden, who came from a wealthy Tamil family in Penang, Malaysia. From a young age, Abisheganaden was influenced by music in the family. He grew up listening to his father sing Christian hymns in the morning and play the violin and ukulele, while his older brothers, Paul, Gerard, and Geoffrey, also played some form of music. Thanks to these early family influences, Abisheganaden cultivated a lifelong passion for music. Building on his singing talents, he taught himself to play the guitar and the piano at the age of 15.He started singing and performing while still at school.  

During the Japanese occupation, Abisheganaden’s strong musical skills proved valuable. He found a job playing guitar in an Indian orchestra for the Azad Hind radio station, established by the Indian National Army under the leadership of Subhas Chandra Bose. This station not only broadcast pro-India and anti-British propaganda but also pro-Japanese songs. Impressed by his singing talent and command of the Japanese language, Abisheganaden was asked by the Japanese authorities to sing Japanese folk and propaganda songs over their own Syonan Broadcasting Station in Singapore. Upon completing his O-levels, he began his career as a teacher. Between 1947 and 1981, he was a teacher, principal and eventually an Inspector of Schools. However, in 1961, he went off to England to study music, which later led him to the Music Unit of the Ministry of Education (MOE). A notable contribution he made there was to produce a 26-episode television series titled “Music Making With The Guitar”.  The series was prompted by the then Minister for Education Goh Keng Swee, and it ran from 1970 to 1971. He also wrote two textbooks to accompany the series. Such efforts eventually brought him fame as “the master of the classical guitar in Singapore.” 

Apart from his roles in MOE, Abisheganaden founded the Singapore Classical Guitar Society in 1967 and the Guitar Ensemble of the National University of Singapore (GENUS) in 1981. From a humble beginning with fewer than 10 enthusiasts, GENUS grew into a 50-member strong ensemble with a wide repertoire and is recognised as one of Singapore’s premier guitar ensembles. One of his iconic works as a composer is titled “Huan Yin-Vanakkam”, a double concerto for sitar, erhu and guitar orchestra. The piece blends elements of Indian and Chinese folk music -- sinuous Chinese folk melodies with the rhythmic tempo of songs sung by Indian workers that he remembered from his childhood days. The fusion of Chinese, Indian and Western instruments led critics to call it “a singularly important example of world music”. In recognition of his long and illustrious service to education and music, he was awarded the Long Service Medal (PBS) in 1981 and the Cultural Medallion in 1988. Alex Abisheganaden passed away on 17 March 2023, at the age of 97. His daughter, Jacintha, and his eldest brother, Paul, also became nationally recognised performers in the Singapore music world.



For more information
Abisheganaden, Alex. Music Making with the Guitar. Vol. 1. Singapore: ETV Service, 1970. (Call no.: RSING 787.6151 ABI)
Abisheganaden, A. “60 years playing the high notes.” The Straits Times, 12 June 1983, 24. (From Newspaper SG)
Loh, Joy. “The Guitar Man: Alex Abisheganaden.” BiblioAsia 13, no. 1 (Apr–Jun 2017), 12 April 2017. https://biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/vol-13/issue-1/apr-jun-2017/guitar-man/
Abisheganaden, Paul. Oral History Interview by Jesley Chua Chee Huan, 9 March 1993. Transcript and MP3 audio, 24:21:45. National Archives of Singapore (accession no. 001412)
Chang, You Liang. “Alex Abisheganaden,” Singapore Infopedia. National Library Board Singapore. Accessed on 1 August 2025. https://www.nlb.gov.sg/main/article-detail?cmsuuid=e831e20c-b8cd-44d3-bd85-36abb2049a92 

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The information in this article is valid as of August 2025 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. If you have any feedback on this article, please submit here.