Donor Spotlight: Bradley L. Cullen
This month we sat down with TWC Trustee and Donor, Bradley L. Cullen, to discuss his philanthropy with TWC!
Q: What was your “meet cute” with TWC?
A: My mom is friends with the parents of one of our amazing altos in the choir, and she recommended I audition when I moved to the area in 2011. I hadn’t heard of the choir before, and I am so thankful she reached out and recommended TWC!
Q: What makes contributing to TWC rewarding for you? Why do you give to us, both with your time and your funding?
A: The TWC community is like no other. I’ve sung in other choirs both in/around DC and the rest of the country, and TWC is the one group I can’t imagine leaving. Singing with TWC is more than just showing up to rehearsal and learning the notes. There is a drive to not only sing well, but sing at a professional level to bring our audiences something special—both through old favorites and innovative new works. I believe in the mission and values of the choir, and enjoy bringing amazing music to our community. It is more than worthy of my time and money, because I can’t put a price on the experience and what we provide to the community.
Q: How have you seen TWC build and engage the community?
A: TWC has always reached out to the community, including via outreach singing, inviting high school and other organizations to perform with us, family events, or putting on new and diverse repertoire to reach more members of the community.
Q: What do you wish everyone knew about TWC?
A: That we care about keeping high artistic standards, about our community, about each other, and we want to keep bringing wonderful music to the DC area.
Q: What would you tell someone who is considering donating to TWC?
A: You are giving not just to TWC, but to a group of people who donate their time, energy, passion, and love to sharing music with others.
Q: What's your favorite TWC moment?
A: This is a hard one to answer! To pick one moment, I would choose singing and recording Beethoven’s 9th symphony with the NSO last June was an amazing experience. The performances were so full of drive, energy, and passion, and this shows in the recording.
We are so grateful to Brad for his support and for sitting down to share his story! If you are interested in participating in future donor interviews, please send a note to our Communications Manager, Jennie Weyman.
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About Bradley:
Bradley Cullen has sung with the Tenor section of The Washington Chorus since 2011, and served on the TWC Finance Committee for several years before joining the Board. He is a native of Virginia and grew up playing the piano and clarinet in school, and singing four-part harmony in church. He found his love for choral music in high school and has been singing ever since, including with the Phoenix Symphony Choir, various groups overseas, and other choirs in the DC area.
In his professional life, Bradley is a Program and Portfolio Manager with Northrop Grumman Corporation where he manages programs supporting space systems, both on the ground and in orbit. Prior to joining Northrop Grumman, Bradley was a Director and with All Native Managed Services, overseeing the company’s largest portfolio of programs for various government agencies. He has more 15 years of experience building and leading teams, managing programs for government and commercial customers, finance, and corporate strategy.
Bradley holds an MBA from the Thunderbird School of Global Management, and a BA from Goshen College in Music and Business Information Systems. Early in his career, Bradley spent a decade working in Asia (Taiwan and Hong Kong) and the Middle East (Iraq), speaks Mandarin Chinese, and has been proud to call the DC area his home since moving back to the United States.