Kiran Vidula Visiting Artist Series - Good News

Join us for a lecture and workshop series with Kiran Vedula on what it means to be a community-based artist in the year 2025.

Kiran Vedula is a musician, producer, and educator with a passion for collaboration and community-building, and an insatiable curiosity for culture and history. For the past two decades, he has worked with artists, families, and organizations in Milwaukee, nationally, and abroad creating compositions, performances, and youth programs that are entertaining, vulnerable, and culturally relevant. As a composer and producer, his work has been featured on cultural outlets including NPR, Pitchfork, and Afropunk. As a director and performer, his work has been showcased by performing arts venues including The Kennedy Center, Pabst Theater, and Marcus Performing Arts Center. In 2021, he and his wife Karlies Kelley founded Flutes at Dawn, a nonprofit with the mission of inspiring, educating, and celebrating through music, dance, and digital media.

Kiran recently released an album, "Good News" (available on on streaming services) which is a vibrant collection of songs and rhythms inspired by call-and-response traditions from around the world. Drawing influences from Hip Hop, Soul, Gospel, Funk, Jazz, and Electronic music, he is using the music and message to work with middle and high school choir students, as well as music majors at universities.

In response to the growing mental health challenges and rising suicide rates among young people—often exacerbated by excessive social media use—the goal of “Good News” is to encourage more meaningful, in-person connections and less time spent online. Kiran is currently working on a district-wide choir performance featuring 1,000 middle and high school students, set to showcase the music of “Good News” in Spring 2026.

He will be leading several lectures and workshops on campus here at UW-Whitewater about what it means to connect as an artist and an individual. Here are the events throughout the two days:
Working with a Community Based Artist - April 3rd @9am in CA1005
Career Skills for Musicians - April 3rd @11am in CA0001
Creativity and Mindfulness in a Modern World - April 3rd @12pm in CA0006
Jack of All Trades: How to “Do it all” in the Arts - April 4th @11am in CA0030
Introduction to Call and Response Singing - April 4th @12pm in Light Recital Hall
Good News Concert - April; 4th @3pm in Light Recital Hall

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