Hello! My name is Jon Runion and I am the new Associate Minister of Music here at Resurrection Parish! I grew up in Rochester, NY and only came to Pittsburgh in 2019 to start my undergraduate degree at Duquesne University. I come from a musical household; my mom is a collaborative pianist, my two sisters play violin and flute, and my dad pays for it all! I picked up trumpet in the 6th grade and ran with it, joining local youth orchestras, wind ensembles, trumpet ensembles, and more! My private high school teacher introduced me to the professor at Duquesne. It ended up being a great fit and I completed my Bachelor’s in Trumpet Performance in May of 2023. When I first showed up at Duquesne, they tried putting me in Group Piano 1, but I quickly tested out and picked up organ! I started taking lessons with Dr. Ann Labounsky and stuck with it for the rest of my time at Duquesne. During my senior year, I started subbing around Pittsburgh on both trumpet and organ; landing gigs with the Johnstown Symphony and River City Brass on trumpet, and Divine Grace Parish and St. Anne Parish on organ.
Despite being a trumpet major, Dr. Labounsky threw a lot of really challenging repertoire at me, throwing me in the deep end. I tackled some works by J. S. Bach, the French composer César Franck, and even a contemporary work by her late mentor Jean Langlais. Duquesne had not one, not two, but six incredible organs for me to practice on whenever I didn’t feel like playing trumpet, and I count myself very lucky for having that kind of access.
I’m so excited to be here at Resurrection Parish - everyone that I’ve met has been incredibly welcoming! As your new Associate Music Minister, I’ll be playing for Masses every weekend as well as conducting the children’s choir and the children’s bell choir. Please drop by and introduce yourself and say hi!