At the end of the 2024/25 academic year, the following DAN School music faculty members of DAN will be retiring, John Burge, Gisèle Dalbec-Szczesniak, Joy Innis, Greg Runions and Adrienne Shannon. Collectively representing over one hundred years of teaching and performing at Queen’s University, these upcoming retirees, joined by a few friends, will present a concert of music ranging in styles from classical to jazz. This celebratory event will include a cash bar and a chance to meet the performers in the lobby after the concert.
FREE STUDENT TICKETS: The DAN School invites all youth to celebrate the arts with our $6 and $8 student tickets. New for this year, the DAN School, with the support of the George Taylor Richardson Memorial Fund, is removing further barriers by offering any available tickets for free to all students one week before each 2024/25 DAN School Faculty Artist Series concert. Up to two free student tickets can be ordered online using the discount code: STUDENTFREE
JOHN BURGE, a composer and pianist, began teaching at Queen’s University in 1987. A Juno-winning composer, he served as Director of the School of Music during the years that the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts was designed, an experience he fondly remembers every time he enters the building.
GISÈLE DALBEC-SZCZESNIAK has taught violin and viola at the DAN School since 2000, during which time she was also a founding member of the Isabel Quartet. A highly prominent and active musician in the Kingston community, she held the position of Concertmaster of the Kingston Symphony for 29 years.
JOY INNIS is a collaborative pianist and member of PALENAI Piano Duo with Adrienne Shannon. They served on the committee to purchase the German Steinway for the Isabel Bader Centre, produced "We Stand with Ukraine" fund-raising concert, and recorded music for piano duo by the late Michel Sczcesniak.
GREG RUNIONS, percussionist and composer, graduated from Queen’s University in 1980. In the late 1980’s he started teaching at the university, and over the year has directed the jazz and percussion ensembles and taught a variety of courses. His compositions can be heard on his big band and septet recordings.
Pianist, ADRIENNE SHANNON taught at St. Lawrence College and the Dan School. Her piano duo with Joy Innis has toured across Canada, in the US, Korea, Israel, Ukraine, Germany and England and developed award-winning multimedia programs combining music with imagery. She is an active collaborative pianist.