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For Dr. Helen Van Wyck, teaching music to college students is anything but mundane.

"Making music with young people renews me," says Trinity's music department chair. "It feels fresh every day and revives the soul, and I am blessed to have a job doing something I love."

Music is what Van Wyck loves: singing it, teaching it, listening to it. Before coming to Trinity in 1987, the Calvin College graduate taught music and directed choirs at her alma mater in Grand Rapids, Michigan, as well as some areas grade schools and high schools. Those jobs were part-time, which made the possibility of relocating more attractive.

"None of those jobs had any prospects of evolving into a full-time position, and the thought of working full time at a small Christian college near Chicago greatly appealed to me. Teaching college students is incredibly rewarding because this is such an important time in their lives. They are making their transition from adolescence to young adulthood, and it's exciting to be involved in their growth."

Van Wyck completed both her master's in music and her doctorate in musical arts at Michigan State University. When she arrived at Trinity, the music department was a fraction of what it is now. As the leader of choral studies, she played a vital role in laying the foundation for much of the program's success.

"When I came here, I was the only full-time music professor. We didn't have space dedicated to music study. We were scattered all over campus for classes, instruction, and rehearsals, and we had to perform our concerts at area churches.

"Bringing Ken (Austin) on as another full-time professor bolstered our music department tremendously; he has done a fantastic job with the instrumental program. The Ozinga Chapel is a great facility to make music, and our department has blossomed and continues to do so."

Van Wyck, a mezzo soprano, sings professionally with the New Classic Singers in the Chicago area and participates every summer in the Oregon Bach Festival Chorus, which won a Grammy Award in 2000. She says she needs "the professional encouragement, and sometimes it's good to be just one voice among many instead of the person in charge.

"Music is a means of ministry. It is a vehicle we use to praise God, and that's why I get so much satisfaction from it. It allows us to reach people, and it's hard to detach my faith from my music. I try to model that for my students."

An unabashed "big-time Beatles fan," Van Wyck enjoys Renaissance, gospel, spiritual, and folk music. She also likes to bike, run, and swim. She lives in Palos Heights with her husband, Marv, and they attend Hope Christian Reformed Church in Oak Forest, Illinois.