Vaynu Kadiyali

Vaynu Kadiyali joins the Seattle Symphony flute section in the 2026/2027 season. He previously held piccolo positions with the North Carolina Symphony and the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. Highlights in these previous positions included travelling, teaching and performing across North Carolina as a part of NCS’s education programming, and performing in the 2025 Cliburn Competition in Fort Worth, Texas. He has also performed as piccoloist with the Chicago, Detroit and Milwaukee symphony orchestras, and with the San Francisco Symphony.

Kadiyali is a graduate of Northwestern University, where he studied flute and piccolo with John Thorne, Jennifer Gunn and Alyce Johnson. While completing his undergraduate studies, he played principal flute on premieres led by Donald Nally; collaborated with composers including Julia Wolfe, Christopher Cerrone, Stacy Garrop and Alex Temple; and played solo flute and piccolo on a premiere on the Cedille Records label.

Originally from Ithaca, New York, Kadiyali studied with Elizabeth Shuhan and performed as a soloist with local ensembles. Outside of his musical pursuits, he earned a dual degree in economics, with an interest in public policy.