Warren Central High School
Choral Department

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Total Sound / Madrigal Singers

National Anthem - 8.25.23

River City Early College Singers

Paper Crane Project - 9.21.23

Varsity Singers

Paper Crane Project - 9.21.23

Meet the Directors

Harlan Mapp

Harlan Mapp, a native of Hattiesburg, MS, is the Head Choir Director at Warren Central High School. There he oversees the two different concert choir groups at WCHS as well as the RCEC Singers at River City Early College with the Assistant Choir Director, Richard Culpepper. Harlan is also in charge of the Madrigal Singers and Total Sound, the small select ensemble and show choir respectively.

Not only a choir director, Harlan has performed in various musical theatre and operatic roles as Captain Tempest (Return tdo the Forbidden Planet), the Phantom (Phantom of the Opera), Nathan Detroit (Guys & Dolls), and Ebenezer Scrooge (A Christmas Carol) and a member of the Songs for a New World cast, Ping (Turandot), the Mandarin (Turandot), Count Monterone (Rigoletto), Ko-Ko (The Mikado), Doncairo (Carmen), and the Father (Hansel and Gretel).

Harlan has served as the assistant production manager, set design/construction/coordination, and props master of the Natchez Festival of Music in cooperation with Opera Mississippi for Romeo & Juliet, La Boheme, A Little Night Music, Faust, and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. Other builds include the Southern Opera and Musical Theatre Company’s performance of Hansel and Gretel, The Drowsy Chaperone, and L’elisir d’amore as well as The Hub City Players’ production of Sister Act.

Prior to coming to WCHS, Harlan served as the production manager and stage director of educational outreach programs with the Natchez Festival of Music, Opera Mississippi, and FestivalSouth for the last several years. Under his coordination of these programs, John Davies’ Pinocchio (2020) and Three Little Pigs (2022) toured schools across the state of Mississippi, and The Billy Goats Gruff was filmed and distributed virtually despite the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. While finishing his Master's at USM, Harlan produced and served as the assistant director for Hansel and Gretel and Too Many Sopranos with the Southern Opera and Musical Theatre Company.

Harlan holds a Bachelor of Music Education and a Master of Music in Choral Conducting from The University of Southern Mississippi.

Richard Culpepper

Richard Culpepper, a native of Pearl, Mississippi, is the Assistant Choir Director at Warren Central High School and Organist for Crawford Street United Methodist Church. At WCHS, along with Head Director Harlan Mapp, he leads the RCEC Singers at River City Early College, Concert Choir, and Varsity Choir, as well as assisting with the Madrigal Singers and Total Sound.

In addition to directing choirs, Richard has written arrangements for show choirs, traditional choirs, and instruments. Richard has also performed in numerous vocal and instrumental ensembles, including the Mississippi River Chorale(MRC), Ole Miss Men's Glee, the Non-Stravinsky Trio, and was featured in a performance at Carnegie Hall as a member of and accompanist for the University of Mississippi Concert Singers. He has performed in musicals and operas in such roles as Pappy in "Lil' Abner," Doody in "Grease," Willard Hewitt in "Footloose," and Rosencrantz in the world premiere of "Hamlet: An opera in five acts" in Oxford, MS and Prague, Czech Republic.

Prior to joining the WCHS faculty, Richard worked as the choir and theatre director for Lewisburg High School, producing numerous musicals including "Into the Woods," "Disney' High School Musical: On Stage," "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee," and "The Addams Family: School Edition." He also served as a staff accompanist for the MidSouth Music Institute in the Desoto County area, specifically with the high school men's group CoroFuente. He also served as organist at Anchor Baptist Church in Water Valley, MS from 2013 until 2020 when he became the music director until moving to Vicksburg in 2023. 

Richard holds an Associate of Nursing, Bachelor of Music Education, and Master of Choral Conducting degrees from The University of Mississippi (Ole Miss). Richard is a member of Phi Theta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi, the International Thespian Society, Mississippi Music Educators Association (MMEA), and the Mississippi chapter of the American Choral Directors Association.