Hailing from a family of legendary musicians, as the grandson of the late mridangam legend, Palghat Raghu and with the Lalgudi family name on the mothers side, music is in Abhisheks blood.
Abhishek started learning the mridangam from his grandfather and then moved on to vocal training under Vidwan P. S. Narayanaswamy. He has also trained under the legendary Khanjira vidwan Sri Hari Shankar.
In 1999, he gave his first international concert while on tour in the U.S with his grandfather, Palghat Raghu. Today, Abhishek is one of the most heard Carnatic vocalists in India and abroad. He has performed with several eminent musicians including T. K. Murthy, Umayalpuram Sivaraman, Karaikudi Mani, Trichy Sankaran, G. Harishankar, Thiruvarur Bakthavathsalam, Ganesh & Kumaresh, Mysore Nagaraj & Manjunath, Shashank Subramanyam, Guitar Prasanna, Shujaat Khan , Jayateerth Mewundi and Sanjeev Abhyankar. In 2014, Abhishek was presented by Ustad Zakir Hussain in the Barsi festival dedicated to his father Ustad Alla Rakha.
Possessing a combination of virtuosity, aesthetics and intellect, Abhishek has created a new genre in the field of music that, according to critics is food for the intellect, mind, heart and soul. He could well be on his way to creating a new Gharana, something that could have a big impact in the Indian music world.
Abhishek enjoys working with students of the art, strongly believing in the need to teach. He has participated in the Karunbithil Shibira - an annual music camp organized by Vittal Ramamurthy & family and held in the remote village of Nidle, India. Abhishek directed the Children's Carnatic choir organized by Bhoomija trust as a fund-raiser for Drishti Eye Care, Bangalore. He has also joined Indian Raga as the instructor for a series of Raga Labs in the United States.
Recently Abhishek was involved in the making of the album Kaadalan Bharathi, an album comprising exclusively Subramanya Bharati's songs and also gave a Mridangam recital along with Anantha R Krishnan for the 70th birthday celebrations of Mridangam Vidwan Karaikudi Mani.
Abhishek is an A grade artiste of All India Radio since 2012.
