The larynx’s main function is not to make sounds, contends voice therapist and researcher Miriam Van Mersbergen ’88.
“Your larynx is there to protect your airwaves,” said the assistant professor of health and communicative disorders at the University of Northern Illinois University.
She has grown to be fascinated by this small part of our anatomy, shielding our airwaves from harm through swallowing and coughing—and the amazing vocal cords that are always moving, modifying our airwaves as necessary.
“Singing is actually an opportunistic function,” Van Mersbergen said, “and not the primary reason for the larynx’s existence. God has enabled humans to be good at making beautiful sounds.”
She helps many clients—some of them famous singers and actors, broadcasters, pastors and teachers—find their voice when they have difficulties due to overuse, disease or incorrect use.
Van Mersbergen has found that the interplay between what is physical and psychological are inextricably related, and thus she acquired a PhD in psychology from the University of Minnesota after her training in speech-language pathology and vocology from the University of Iowa.
Vocology?
Van Mersbergen laughed and explained that in most cases it is easier to teach musicians to be scientists than the other way around. She delves deeply into what happens when someone speaks or sings and what physical and psychological issues are at play when there are vocal troubles.
Her own vocational path began in music, growing up in a musical family and taking voice lessons at a young age. She came to Calvin initially thinking about becoming a recording engineer, but that changed to music theory and communications.
“I enjoyed the high caliber of music at the college and was forever changed by a trip to Hungary with the Capella,” she said. “Since graduation I’ve been impressed about how many persons in national professional music organizations know of Calvin. They regard Calvin as a place of musical excellence with soul—commitment beyond the music.”
After Calvin, it took Van Mersbergen a few years to find the right combination of classes and program, but she has since become one of just a handful of professionals with membership in both the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and the National Association of Teachers of Singing.
That combination makes her a sought-after voice, breathing and swallowing disorder therapist, and she has a large portfolio of clients in addition to her classroom teaching at Northern Illinois.
“I have a diverse client base,” she said. “There are opera singers and there are rock vocalists. They each have distinct vocal challenges to work through. I go to a lot of concert halls and trendy clubs to see and hear my clients.”
Van Mersbergen is a passionate advocate for all persons to be caretakers of their voices.
“It is not OK to abuse your voice,” she said. “We need to cultivate a healthy respect for this important part of the anatomy. The voice is our gateway to expressing and appreciating emotion and should not be taken for granted.”
She asserts that there isn’t a singular definition of a beautiful voice.
“Your voice is part of who you are,” she said. “Those you care about will be locked into your voice and that happens immediately from a baby’s first cry to future layers of complexity. We all need to learn better ways of using our unique voice—and in using other, non-verbal expressions—to directly and truthfully convey our emotions.”
