SHAWN CULLEN

Shawn Cullen, educator, conductor and artistic director, has earned a reputation for his dedication to musical excellence and striving to make a difference within the communities in which he belongs.

During his 8-year tenure as Artistic Director/Conductor with Reveille Men’s Chorus, Mr. Cullen worked to inspire growth in membership and audiences alike while striving to produce musically excellent, mission based programming with humor and heart. Mr. Cullen conducted Reveille in 16 local productions, numerous community OUTreach performances, two quadrennial GALA (Gay and Lesbian Association) Chorus festivals and travelled internationally to perform with the Puerto Vallarta Gay Men’s Chorus. Mr. Cullen also led Reveille to make their debut performance with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra in 2013 for “Broadway Rocks!” as the first LGBTQ chorus to perform with a professional symphony orchestra in the state of Arizona. He joined Desert Voices Chorus as Artistic Director/Conductor in 2013 helping to develop it’s new mission of “Fostering Community through Song”, making him one of the few conductors nationally to serve in artistic leadership for two GALA (Gay and Lesbian Association) Choruses simultaneously. Cullen currently serves as a national Board of Director for GALA Choruses helping to lead the North American LGBTQ and LGBTQ-allied choral movement. Most recently, Mr. Cullen has joined the artistic team of Heartland Men’s Chorus in Kansas City serving as director to their community engagement ensemble, Burnt Ends, as well as becoming the Director of Music at Shawnee Mission Unitarian Unitarian Universalist Church in Lenexa, Kansas.

In the education world, Cullen has held positions as an award-winning director of bands & choral music, performing arts mentor teacher and professional development coordinator in the Tucson Unified School District, Adjunct Faculty in University of Arizona’s Fred Fox School of Music, and most recently the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance, as well as the UMKC School of Education. Recognized for his skills as a versatile and collaborative musician, Mr. Cullen served as conductor for the Arizona Repertory Theater, housed within the University of Arizona’s School of Theater, Film and Television with nine production credits including “Into the Woods”, “Avenue Q”, “The Full Monty”, and “EVITA”.

Mr. Cullen is currently an Interdisciplinary Ph.D. Teaching Fellow in Music Education and Curriculum & Instruction at the UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance. Recently his research in academic success for music education  has been presented nationally at the Desert Skies Symposium on Research in Music Education. Mr. Cullen holds a Bachelor’s of Music Education and a Master’s of Music in Conducting from the University of Arizona and is a member of the American Choral Director’s Association, the National Association for Music Education and serves on the national board of directors for GALA Choruses.