The story has been updated as of Nov. 5 to include the University’s response to claims about the program’s compliance with national standards
DAN School of Drama and Music students say recent cuts have undermined their education and left the school in crisis.
On June 16, students were informed by Director and Associate Professor Julia Brook of new changes coming to their programs. Cuts to the DAN School have resulted in the amount of applied music lessons—one-on-one lessons with professors—being reduced by half or converted to group formats, according to DAN School student council presidents.
Some students are reporting that, with this reduction in individual lessons, the music program at Queen’s no longer meets industry and educational standards. The cuts have also resulted in the departure of multiple professors and key staff members, with some being let go and some making the choice to depart.
In response to this claim, the University noted in a statement to The Journal that “The B.Mus. program continues to meet national academic and performance expectations for undergraduate music education in Canada.”
The 2025-26 Co-Presidents of the DAN School student council, Sophie Wilson, ArtSci ’26, and Ella Hammett, ArtSci ’27, voiced their concern over recent changes made to programming in an interview with The Journal.
The co-presidents explained that there have been cuts made to the number of applied lessons offered. They said that the University’s offering half as many applied lessons, with many being in groups rather than being individual, despite promises made to students when they enrolled at the school.
“We [performing arts students] were promised a level of training when we accepted our offers,” said Hammett. “And they’ve (Queen’s) just taken it away halfway through our degrees.”
Despite a statement from Queen’s affirming to DAN students its commitment to “artistic excellence,” the DAN school co-presidents argued that some students have either already transferred or are considering leaving the school, citing a lack of transparency, consultation, and the erosion of promised education standards.
The University didn’t provide a comment to The Journal on how many students have enrolled in or transferred out of The DAN School in recent years, despite specific questioning.
Hammett shared that, in her perspective, this cutback represents a more fundamental breakdown that could be detrimental to students’ post-graduation outcomes.
“Applied music lessons are standard at every university-level music program. Once a week. One-on-one. That’s the minimum,” Hammett said.
According to the co-presidents, allegedly, another factor driving the issue is that many of the instructors who used to teach these applied lessons have left the University over the past few years. They also alleged that some professors even encouraged students to transfer from Queen’s as they departed.
The co-presidents say that these absences have resulted in some students, such as percussionists, not receiving any applied lessons. In a statement to The Journal, the University claimed there’s still a lecturer in percussion providing one-on-one coaching through the percussion ensemble and small ensemble courses.
While the co-presidents have been in discussion with the DAN School Administration, they believe the issue is out of The DAN School’s hands and instead lies with the University, hoping they would recognize the relevance and importance of the performing arts in society and within the Queen’s community, calling for greater transparency and communication.
The University told The Journal that “the school remains committed to educational integrity and artistic excellence, continuing to offer Applied Music courses with individual and small-group instruction as well as numerous public performance opportunities,” although they didn’t clarify the exact amount of applied music lessons still being offered.
The Journal also sat down with recently departed professor from the music program, Wolf Tormann, who taught at Queen’s for 29 years, before leaving in advance of this coming school year. He credits both his departure and the departures of other music professors as a response to the cuts made to the DAN School.
“The decision was at least partially made because I couldn’t work for an organization that basically destroyed the applied music program at Queen’s,” Tormann said. “I don’t want to work for people who don’t appreciate me, and who don’t see the value in a good music education.”
In addition to the resignations, Tormann explained that many professors were let go by the University as a result of cuts to the budget and programming. He shared that many of these instructors were let go via e-mail.
According to Tormann, one of his colleagues—who had worked for the University for seven years—had to write to Queen’s asking if he was still on staff, only for them to respond that they would no longer be offering him any work.
“It’s so devastating for the students at Queen’s, the loss of quality instructors, and the loss of courses that had been offered,” Tormann said. “The Bachelor of Music Program has been watered down. It’s not a high-quality degree anymore. And students aren’t coming.”
The University chose not to comment on the validity of these claims “out of respect for the privacy of everyone involved.”
During the pandemic, when Tormann said he first realized the severity of the music program’s decline, he requested a meeting with the previous Dean of Arts and Sciences, whom he chose not to name, but was allegedly denied. In the years since, while administration has been present at departmental meetings, Tormann claims there was little room for discussion or consultation.
Tormann then stated that Dean questioned why the school had to teach so many instruments and said they should just teach voice and piano.
“That shows you very clearly the disconnect between the administration and the school and its instructors,” Tormann said about the comment from the Dean.
While Tormann claims he fought adamantly for the music program, he says the DAN School administration didn’t advocate strongly enough for its instructors or students.
“I feel we weren’t supported by the DAN School administration or by the University,” he said. “I feel like a lot of my colleagues were thrown under the bus.”
Tormann claims that the reputation of The DAN School has suffered “tremendously” as a result of its recent choices and cuts, and that he would no longer recommend that any students enroll in its programming.
Corrections
A previous version of the story incorrectly named Bob Lemieux and Barbara Crow, even though the source chose not to identity the Arts and Sciences Dean with whom he requested a meeting, but was allegedly denied.
Additionally, the previous headline wasn’t factually substantiated and has been updated to reflect a direct quote.
Incorrect information appeared in the Oct. 31 issue of The Queen’s Journal.
The Journal regrets the error
Tags
budget cuts, DAN School, Dan School of Drama and Music
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X. Otxoa
A music conservatory school is the best place to get a foused music education. The Dan School of Music is an anachronism that does not work well in a medical doctoral university context anymore.