About Donald McCullough

Born: August 16, 1957

Composer

As a composer Don McCullough demonstrates an imaginative flexibility that has brought him critical acclaim throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. From church anthems to full scale symphonic works, McCullough’s music is known for resonating deeply with audiences.

His wide-ranging experience and critical success as the conductor of numerous choral organizations of varying sizes and abilities allows him to write music for all kinds of choirs, whether large or small, children or adult, professional or volunteer, church or community.

McCullough’s most recent composition is Contraries: The Human Condition, a 25-minute  work in six movements that uses the arresting imagery of William Blake’s poetry to portray the difficult balancing of the “contraries” within human nature. Contraries was commissioned by the San Francisco Choral Society (Bob Geary, conductor) and was premiered in San Francisco’s Davies Symphony Hall.

Of special note are two extended works McCullough has written that personalize for audiences two of history's darkest periods: the Holocaust of World War II and America's Slave Era. 

With over 250 performances worldwide, Holocaust Cantata: Songs from the Camps is a 40-minute work that gives a human voice to victims of the Holocaust through a cycle of songs and spoken prose written by prisoners in Nazi concentration camps. After its initial performance, Holocaust Cantata was featured in The New York Times and on CNN.

Let My People Go: A Spiritual Journey along the Underground Railroad is a 75 minute dramatic choral work that weaves together spirituals, code songs and first and third-person texts to create a rich tapestry that depicts the struggle of ante-bellum slaves for freedom. Since its Kennedy Center premiere, Let My People Go has experienced repeat performances by several choruses throughout the country, including four performances that were a part of the Inaugural Activities of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, Ohio.

McCullough has over 30 published or soon-to-be-published compositions represented by numerous publishers. Many of these works were commissioned for special occasions, such as significant anniversaries and celebrations of service, in which McCullough has worked with a wide variety of organizations, including middle and high schools, small and large church programs, colleges, universities, professional choruses and community choirs. 

McCullough holds bachelor degrees in both organ and vocal performance from Stetson University and master degrees in both sacred music and vocal performance from Southern Methodist University. He came to Washington, DC in 1996 from Norfolk, Virginia, where he had founded two organizations that continue to thrive today—the Virginia Symphony Chorus and the Virginia Chorale, which continues to be that state’s only fully professional choral ensemble. He served on the board of directors of Chorus America, the national service organization for choruses in the United States and Canada, and regularly appears as a guest conductor and clinician.

Conductor

As a conductor, McCullough is known for his fresh and vibrant interpretations of both choral standards and contemporary works. Hailed by the Washington Post for his “dazzling expertise” on the podium, he is considered one of America’s pre-eminent choral conductors.

For over a decade, he conducted the Master Chorale of Washington (MCW) in their venue, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, in Washington, D.C. where the Chorale became known for singing “with an innate sense of lyricism and musical poise” (Washington Post) in performances that were described as “sensitive, scrupulous and heartfelt” (Washington Post). During his tenure, McCullough conducted sixteen world premieres, commissioned a major choral work by American composer Adolphus Hailstork, produced three nationally distributed CD's, and received The Margaret Hillis Achievement Award for Choral Excellence in North America for his work with the Master Chorale.

He led MCW on two international tours, one at the invitation of German and Polish consular officials who invited MCW to be a featured guest chorus during Europe’s commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the end of WWII. On this tour, the Master Chorale performed the European premiere of McCullough’s poignant and deeply affecting Holocaust Cantata at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp Memorial and in Krakow’s St. Katharina Church, the crypt of Dresden’s Frauenkirche and Berlin’s St. Hedwig’s Cathedral.

He has also led the Master Chorale in performances at the National Convention of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) in such renowned music venues as Carnegie Hall, the Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall, and historic Riverside Church as well as at the ACDA’s Eastern Regional Convention.

McCullough regularly appears as a guest conductor and clinician for high school district, state and honor’s choirs, community and professional choirs, and choral festivals. He has been invited by organizations such as the Berkshire Choral Festival, the Virginia Wesleyan Center for Sacred Music Choir and the Hickory Choral Society (NC) to conduct concerts featuring his own music.

McCullough also regularly appears as a clinician for organizations such as the American Guild of Organists, American Choral Conductors Association, Stetson University, Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, Montclair State University, the Fellowship of United Methodists in Music, the Association of Anglican Musicians, Douglas Anderson School of the Arts as well as numerous other public schools.

Donald McCullough holds bachelor degrees in both organ and vocal performance from Stetson University and master degrees in both sacred music and vocal performance from Southern Methodist University. He came to Washington, DC from Norfolk, Virginia, where he had founded two organizations that continue to thrive today—the Virginia Symphony Chorus and the Virginia Chorale, which continues to be that state’s only fully professional choral ensemble. He has also served on the board of directors of Chorus America, the national service organization for choruses in the United States and Canada.

(updated June 1, 2010)