Faculty & Staff

As established artists and top scholars in their fields, members of Calvin’s Music faculty bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to every class, rehearsal, and private lesson.

Part-time Music Faculty

Alley, Gregory - trumpet	Hovnanian, Michael - string bass	Tolbert, Clinton - accompanist
Bays, Jan - accompanist	Hoisington, Linda - piano	Van Becker, Leslie - viola
Beck, Matt - percussion	Huizenga, Trudi - voice	Van Kooten, Jan - Music Appreciation
Brettschneider, Bill - guitar	Krummel, Karen - cello	VandenBerg, Lavonne - piano
Brown, Jill - flute, Flute Choir	Lee, Eun - accompanist	Varineau, Gwen - accompanist
Burch, Monty - tuba	Martin, David - guitar	Varineau, John - clarinet
Colpean, Beth - harp	Mustert, Betty - piano	Walhout, Lisa - voice
de Waal Malefyt, Norma - organ	Peterson, Erich - French horn	Werkema, Jason - jazz guitar
De Young, Tim - bassoon	Scanlan, Roger - voice	Wiltse, Stephanie - Handbell Ensemble
Gomez, Kathy - oboe	Spencer, Dan - trombone	Wunder, Patricia - violin

Gregory Alley Trumpet	email
Gregory Alley teaches trumpet at Calvin College. He holds a BM from Cornerstone University and a MM from Michigan State University. From 1984 to 2007 he was a member of the West Point Band in New York. He is an active performer and clinician and has performed with the Battle Creek Symphony, The West Shore Symphony, the Lansing Symphony, and the Grand Rapids Symphony. He also teaches trumpet at Aquinas College and at Grand Valley State University's International Trumpet Seminar.
Jan Bays Accompanist & Piano	email
Jan Bays teaches piano and is a vocal coach and accompanist for several voice studios at Calvin. A graduate of Eastern Michigan University, Jan also studied accompanying and vocal coaching with Eugene Bossert at the University of Michigan. She has been a vocal coach and accompanist at Grand Valley State University and plays regularly at Madison Square Christian Reformed Church.
Matthew Beck Percussion	email
Matthew Beck currently serves as Principal Percussionist with the Canton Symphony Orchestra in Ohio, and the West Shore Symphony in Muskegon, MI. He also appears regularly with the Grand Rapids Symphony. Mr. Beck received his B.M. from the Cleveland Institute of Music as a student of Richard Weiner and Paul Yancich of the Cleveland Orchestra, and he graduated with a M.M. from DePaul University as a student of Ted Atkatz from the Chicago Symphony. He has spent his summers performing at many of the world's great music festivals including the Verbier Festival in Switzerland, Pacific Music Festival (Japan), and the Spoleto USA Festival. Mr. Beck was previously Instructor of Preparatory Percussion at the Cleveland Institute of Music and a percussion faculty member at the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp.
Bill Brettschneider Guitar	email
William Brettschneider is a guitarist residing in Hesperia, Michigan with his wife and four daughters. He studied jazz and classical guitar at Grace Bible College and also at Grand Valley State University. He teaches guitar at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He also teaches privately in Muskegon and performs in the West Michigan area. Contact information and recordings available at www.muskegonguitar.com.
Jill Marie Brown Flute, Flute Choir Director	email
Jill Brown teaches flute and directs the Flute Choir at Calvin College. She holds a bachelor's degree from Calvin College, where she majored in Music Education and flute performance, and a MM from the University of Michigan. Her past instructors include Darlene Dugan and Judy Bentley. Ms. Brown has been a member of the West Michigan Symphony for 30 years, and is a substitute in the Grand Rapids Symphony. She has also performed in various Master Classes, including Julius Baker, Jeanne Baxtresser (principal flutes in New York Philharmonic), and Jeffrey Khaner (Cleveland principal).
Dwight Burch Tuba	email
Dwight (Monty) Burch joined the Grand Rapids Symphony as principal tuba in 1978. Prior to his appointment in Grand Rapids, he held similar positions with the Oak Park Symphony and the Elmhurst Symphony. Mr. Burch received his Bachelor's degree in music from North Texas State University and earned a Master's degree from the California State University at Fresno. His principal teachers include Roger Bobo of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Arnold Jacobs of the Chicago Symphony, with whom he has studied privately since 1973.
Elizabeth Colpean Harp	email
Elizabeth Colpean has been Principal Harpist in the Grand Rapids Symphony since 2000. She has participated in a number of international music festivals including the Pacific Music Festival, the National Repertory Orchestra, the Tanglewood Music Festival and the Seventh World Harp Congress in Prague, Czech Republic. Her principal teachers include Alice Chalifoux and Susan Dederich-Pejovich. Ms. Colpean holds degrees from Southern Methodist University and The Cleveland Institute of Music. In addition to her demanding orchestral schedule, she is a member of Duo Derazey, and Trio Neaveau, and is active in solo engagements.
Norma de Waal Malefyt Piano, Organ	email
Norma de Waal Malefyt teaches piano and organ at Calvin College. A Calvin alumna, she has an AB in organ performance and education. Norma is a Resource Development Specialist for the Calvin Worship Institute, and she plays organ and directs the handbell choir at Hillcrest CRC in Hudsonville.
Tim De Young Bassoon	email
Tim De Young teaches bassoon at Calvin College. Tim also teaches middle and high school band and orchestra in the Grand Rapids Public Schools, and has eight years of K-12 teaching experience, with five years as an instrumental music teacher in grades 6-12. Tim De Young received his Bachelor of Music, Instrumental Music Education from the University of Michigan.
Kathleen Gomez Oboe	email
Kathleen Gomez has been a member of the Grand Rapids Symphony since 1981. She teaches privately at Calvin College and Grand Rapids Community College. She received a BS in K-12 instrumental music education at the University of Wisconisn-LaCrosse and a MM in woodwind instruments from the University of MI-Ann Arbor. In addition to her work with the Grand Rapids Symphony, Ms. Gomez has performed in many orchestras including the Chicago Symphony.
Dr. Michael Hovnanian String Bass
Michael Hovnanian teaches Double Bass at Calvin College. He holds Masters of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in double bass performance from Michigan State University, where he studied under Jack Budrow, and received Bachelor degrees in both Music and Music Education from Central Michigan University. He has also studied with Steven Molina and Larry Hutchenson of the Detroit Symphony, and Robert Goodlett of the Indianapolis Symphony. In addition to being a member of the Grand Rapids Symphony, Michael Hovnanian has performed with numerous orchestras throughout Michigan, including the Detroit Symphony, and is also the associate principal bassist of the West Michigan (formerly West Shore) Symphony and a member of the Lansing Symphony.	email
Linda Hoisington Piano, Staff Accompanist	email
Linda Hoisington is the staff accompanist at Calvin College, where she also teaches private piano lessons. She holds a BM and MM from the University of Wisconsin, and previously taught at Wheaton College. Linda is an active collaborative pianist and teacher, accompanying the Bach Chorale and participating in publisher's recording sessions.
Trudi Huizenga Voice	email
Trudi Huizenga is an emerita teacher at Calvin College where she taught voice, theory and music history. She continues to teach voice at the college. She holds a masters degree in musicology from Ohio State University and a Ph.D. in music with an emphasis in voice from Michigan State University. She also is a certified McClosky Voice Technician and is interested in vocal rehabilitation. She has sung as a soloist with the Michigan State University Choral Union, the Calvin Orchestra and the Calvin Alumni Choir. Dr. Huizenga has sung numerous recitals and enjoys serving as soloist in local church services.
Karen Krummel Cello	email
Karen Krummel has been a full-time member of the Grand Rapids Symphony since 1989 and has taught cello at Calvin College since 1995. Her teachers included Samuel Mayes, Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi, and Louis Potter, and she participated in summer festivals at Aspen, Banff, and Tanglewood. Besides her strong orchestral background, she is active as a chamber musician, and she has performed and premiered many contemporary works. Karen soloed with the Calvin Alumni Orchestra in 2000.
Eun Lee Accompanist
Eun Kyung Lee holds a BA and MA in piano performance from Ewha Women’s University in Seoul, Korea. She also completed a course from the Bartok Music Institute in Hungary. She has performed several distinguished recitals, including one at the nationally-renown Se-Jong Cultural Center and performances with the Choong-Nam Symphony Orchestra. Her teaching experience includes six years at Chun-Nam National University and Hoshin University. Currently, she serves as an accompanist for the Calvin College Music Department.
David Martin Guitar	email
Teaching himself electric and acoustic guitar as a young man, this native of Chicago went on to study classical guitar with Brian Morris and Carlos de la Barrera at Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Once receiving a Bachelor of Arts in music, David went by way of scholarship to complete his Master's degree at University of Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music under the instruction of renowned Professor Clare Callahan. Throughout his scholastic and professional career, David has performed several styles of guitar music, from lead guitar in both acoustic and electric rock bands to various classical guitar concerts and recitals plus private parties and weddings across the United States. David is also a member of several ensembles, including the Grand Rapids Guitar Quartet and the Folias Tango Quartet, which performs original compositions along with traditional Argentinean Tango music. The Folias Tango Quartet has toured throughout the United States, including performances in Pittsburg, Denver, Salt Lake City, San Diego and Albuquerque. In addition, David performs with local and national musicians for a variety of recitals and events, including a performance at the Miss Wheelchair USA 2010 opening banquet dinner. Mr. Martin teaches a wide variety of music, from hard rock, to jazz and classical, and currently serves as adjunct professor of guitar at Hope College in Holland, MI, Lake Michigan College in Benton Harbor, MI and Calvin College in Grand Rapids, MI.
Betty Mustert Piano	email
Betty Mustert is a graduate of Calvin College and has been teaching piano at Calvin for over 20 years. She belongs to various musical organizations at the local, state, and national levels. These include St. Cecilia Music Society, Grand Rapids Piano Teachers Forum, Grand Rapids Musicians League, Michigan Music Teachers Association, Music Teachers National Association, and National Guild of Piano Teachers. In addition to teaching at Calvin, she has a private studio which includes children and adults.
Erich Peterson French horn	email
Erich Peterson received both his Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Horn Performance from Northwestern University, where he studied with Dale Clevenger, Norman Schweikert and Gail Williams. Currently, Erich is the Assistant Principal/Second Horn with the Grand Rapids Symphony -- having joined the orchestra in March, 2004. In addition to his playing duties, Erich began as Personnel Manager of the Grand Rapids Symphony in July, 2007. Before coming to Grand Rapids, Erich was a member of the national tour of Les Misérables with whom he performed more than 1500 shows in over 40 states and Canada over a period of 6 years. While living in Chicago, Erich was an active free-lance musician performing with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic, Ravinia Festival Orchestra and Chicago Opera Theater. Erich was also active as a studio musician having recorded hundreds of television/radio commercials and video game soundtracks. Erich maintains an active teaching schedule both at home and as an adjunct faculty member at Calvin College, Hope College and Cornerstone University. When not playing or teaching, Erich can be found birding or solving puzzles of all kinds.
Roger Scanlan Voice	email
Dr. Roger Scanlan, tenor, joined the staff of Calvin College in January 2010. He is Professor Emeritus at the Chicago College of Performing Arts of Roosevelt University where he served for many years as Chairman of the Voice Department and Director of the Graduate Program in Vocal Pedagogy. A recitalist and soloist in oratorio throughout the Midwest, he was a founding member of the Chicago Vocal Quartet. Dr. Scanlan travels to Chicago every weekend to perform his duties as Director of Music at Park Ridge Presbyterian Church in the northwest suburbs. On a lighter note he served as the Designated Singer of the Chicago White Sox for five seasons singing the Star Spangled Banner, America the Beautiful, God Bless America and the Canadian National Anthem before large crowns.
Clinton Tolbert Gospel Choir Accompanist	email
Clinton Tolbert has been accompanying for the Gospel Choir since 2000. He also plays keyboards with the Bethel Pentecostal Church Choir in Grand Rapids and was the accompanist and Instrumental Director for the vocal group Voices of Grace. With this group he opened concerts for artists such as Fred Hammond, Marvin Sapp, the Edwin Hawkins Singers, and Anointed. In addition to his musical talents, Clinton works as an Environmental Lab Technician for Smiths Aerospace in Grand Rapids.
Leslie Van Becker Viola	email
Leslie Van Becker has been principal viola of the Grand Rapids Symphony since 1978. She earned a bachelor of music degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and master's in music from the Yale University School of Music. She attended the Conservatory with a four-year full tuition Rockefeller Grant and held a School of Music Assistantship at Yale. As a chamber musician, Ms. Van Becker has appeared with the New World String Quartet, Trio Nouveau, Ghandarva Piano Quartet and Lakeshore Chamber Players. She has appeared as a soloist with the Grand Rapids Symphony on its Casual Classics Series in 1987, 1989, 1995, and 2005 and was featured in Don Quixote on the Symphony's Grand Series in DeVos Hall. She participates each year as principal viola in the Cabrillo Music Festival in Santa Cruz, California, where she plays orchestra and chamber music exclusively from the 20th century. Ms. Van Becker has served on the faculty of Western Michigan University and maintains an active class of viola students. In addition she has been on the faculty at Grand Rapids Community College since 1997.
Lavonne VandenBerg Piano	email
Lavonne VandenBerg teaches piano at Calvin and also has a private piano studio. Ms. VandenBerg is a graduate of Calvin College and has been a full-time organist in Grand Rapids.
Jan Van Kooten Music Appreciation	email
Jan VanKooten is a life-long music educator (beginning as far back as sixth grade) who teaches Music Appreciation at Calvin. Having earned a BA in Music Education from Dordt College and a Master of Music from Arizona State University, she has taught privately and in elementary and secondary schools in Virginia, Texas, Colorado and Alaska, until arriving in MI in 2004. Jan enjoys serving the church as choir director, accompanist and worship service designer in addition to doing statistics and scoring for Calvin's women's athletic teams.
Gwen Varineau Accompanist	email
Gwen Varineau is an active pianist in the Grand Rapids area. She is a regular pianist at Sherman Street Christian Reformed Church and accompanies the clarinet studio at Calvin. Gwen studied at Detroit Bible College as an undergraduate and did graduate work in piano at Michigan State University.
John Varineau Clarinet, Music Theory	email
John Varineau teaches clarinet and music fundamentals at Calvin. John is the Associate Music Director of the Grand Rapids Symphony, conducts the Grand Rapids Youth Symphony, and he has also served as the Calvin College Orchestra conductor. John holds a BM from the University of Wyoming and MM from Yale University.
Lisa Walhout Voice	email
Lisa Walhout teaches voice at Calvin College. A Calvin alumna, she also did graduate work at the University of Maryland. Lisa was the interim director of Calvin's Lyric Singers, and she has performed as a soloist with Opera Grand Rapids, the Washington Bach Consort, and the Calvin Oratorio Society.
Jason Werkema Jazz Guitar	email
Dr. Jason Werkema is Professor and Chair of the Worship Arts Program at Grace Bible College, Grand Rapids, MI. With expertise in both classical and jazz guitar, he is distinguished in Michigan as a leading guitar teacher/mentor. An accomplished musician, he has performed concerts in churches, recital halls, and schools throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe, including a series of performances at the 1992 World’s Fair in Sevilla, Spain. He has participated in guitar master classes and/or private study with renowned guitarists including David Russell, Sharon Isbin, Alice Artzt, Clare Callahan, Nicholas Goluses, Chris Buzzelli, Randy Johnston, Fareed Haque, John Holmquist, Joshua Breakstone, Mark Elf, and Paul Vondiziano. Previous to his current administrative/faculty position, he finished a Bachelors of Music degree in Classical Guitar Performance at Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, MI and a Masters of Music degree in Jazz and Classical Guitar at Bowling Green State University, OH. His Doctor of Philosophy degree is in Higher Education Leadership at Western Michigan University. In addition to his full-time responsibilities at Grace Bible College, he serves on the music faculty at Calvin College. He has formerly taught at the Grand Rapids Community College, Cornerstone University, and Bowling Green State University. Furthermore, Dr. Werkema was a founding member of the Grand Rapids Guitar Quartet (GRGQ 2006-2009). Apart from music, he enjoys motorcycling, fly-fishing, kayaking, golfing, camping, and especially family time. He and his wife, Darcie, have three children, Adam, Holly, and Melissa.
Stephanie Wiltse Handbell Ensemble Director	email
Stephanie Wiltse has been director of the Calvin College Handbell Ensemble since the fall of 2001. She has also directed the Valenti Handbell Ensemble of Aquinas College since 1998. She currently directs adult handbell groups at LaGrave Avenue Christian Reformed Church and Trinity United Methodist Church. She is a founding member of the community group Embellish, and has been music director of the group since 1998. She has served as conductor for mass rings in Oakland, California; Kokomo, Indiana; and Cleveland, Ohio; and has taught handbell classes for the Calvin Symposium on Worship as well as at various area and national American Guild of English Handbell Ringers (AGEHR) events. Stephanie was recently elected to a six-year term on the National Board of Directors of the AGEHR. She is also a handbell soloist, a choral singer and a vocal soloist, and keeps a busy performance schedule throughout the greater Grand Rapids area.
Patricia Wunder Violin
Patricia Wunder teaches violin at Calvin College. Mrs. Wunder holds a B.M. and M.M. in Violin Performance as well a B.M. in Music Education from the University of Minnesota. Her principal teachers include Roland and Almita Vamos and Roger Frisch. She is currently active performing in worship settings and is an active music educator.