Vidyadhar Oke Biography 
Vidyadhar Oke is an Indian singer, musician, musical scholar, musicologist and an astrology consultant. He plays harmonium and is an Indian Doctor of Medicine. As a musician and researcher, his research works in the use of shrutis (microtones) in Indian classical music is his biggest contribution. Using this research work, he created a unique 22-shruti version of the harmonium. He is also a physician by occupation. His wife Bhagyashree Oke is a Kathak Dancer. Among three sons, Aditya Oke is a harmonium player, a sound engineer and a music arranger in films. His daughter-in-law Vedashree Oke is a stage actress and a singer.
Vidyadhar Oke inherited musical talents from his ancestors. He belongs to a family with strong music background. His maternal grandfather and mother Shanta were harmonium players. His mother was also a singer and student of Narayanrao Vyas. He represents third generation of harmonium players in his family. He is also interested in astrology and also completed his medical studies. He started learning harmonium at the age of 4 and gave his first public performance in 1972 on Mumbai Doordarshan as a solo artist. He learnt harmonium from Govindrao Patwardhan for more than 25 years.
He has been a performing member at the National Centre for the Performing Arts, Mumbai for many years. He also regularly performs in cultural events and music festivals across the country. He has also taught harmonium at Department of Music, University of Mumbai. Apart from solo performances, he also accompanies vocalists for live shows. Some of the prominent names include – Asha Bhosle, Vasantrao Deshpande, Sudhir Phadke, Kumar Gandharva, Manik Varma, Jitendra Abhisheki, Vidyadhar Vyas, Suresh Wadkar, Jyotsna Bhole, Padma Talwalkar, Shruti Sadolikar and many more.
Published: January 05, 2020
Updated: January 05, 2020
