Michael Culloton

b. 1976

Dr. Michael Culloton is an assistant professor of music at Concordia. He conducts the Concordia Chapel Choir, Kantorei, and Cantabile, teaches music education and church music courses, and advises the student chapter of the American Choral Directors Association. Along with his duties at Concordia, Culloton is the artistic director and conductor of the Fargo-Moorhead Choral Artists and conducts the Trinity Lutheran Church Cathedral Choir. Previous to this appointment, has was the artistic director and conductor of Choral Arts Ensemble and Honors Choirs of Southeast Minnesota, both organizations based in Rochester (Minn.), for eight years. He earned his Bachelor of Music degree from Concordia College in Moorhead, where he studied with Dr. René Clausen, and his Master of Music degree from the University of Arizona, where he studied with Maurice Skones. Culloton completed his Doctor of Musical Arts degree through North Dakota State University, where he studied with Jo Ann Miller and Michael Weber.

Culloton has taught at Luther College and Winona Senior High School and has also served as the assistant and interim conductor of the National Lutheran Choir. He has held church choir positions in Tucson, Ariz., and Decorah, Iowa, and has been music director for nearly a dozen musical theater productions. Along with his twin brother, Culloton is the co-editor of the "Matthew and Michael Culloton Choral Series" with Santa Barbara Music Publishing, Inc. In 2006, he was recognized as the Minnesota ACDA Young Conductor of the Year and also received the ACDA/VocalEssence Creative Programming Award for his work with Choral Arts Ensemble. In 2009, he was a featured conductor in "Never Stop Singing," a documentary about the history of choral music in Minnesota. Culloton has served as a guest conductor, clinician, and lecturer throughout the region. He lives in the Fargo-Moorhead area with his wife, Brynn, who works in the English department at Concordia, and their daughters, Eleanor and Miriam.