A Fundamental Ingredient Will & Olivia Muller’s Journey in Love & Music

By Donavan Barrier

Music tends to bring people together. A shared love of music can help people develop friendships and, in a professional capacity, colleagues. One couple shows music can forge even deeper bonds.

Will and Olivia Muller are professional musicians and music educators based in Benton Harbor, Michigan. The two met at Indiana Wesleyan University and graduated with degrees in music education and music composition, respectively.

Both currently work professionally as violinists and violists for various orchestras, including the La Porte County Symphony Orchestra, the Founders Philharmonic in Portage, and Central Wesleyan Church in Holland, Michigan. On the weekends, they work for various functions, including church services, weddings, and contra dances.

They also balance their work as musicians while being parents to two children, ages five and three.

Will said he started playing music when he was nine years old. He said he was inspired to start playing after discovering violinist David Klinkenberg. Will said he was exposed to the violinist because his father worked in the music division of Family Christian Stores, and they often attended music concerts.

"Soon after my captivation by Klinkenberg, my fellow 4th-grade students and I were offered the

opportunity to try strings," said Will, "My parents bought me my first violin, a ¾ size from eBay, and I brought it to another concert to show Klinkenberg.

Starstruck, I asked him to autograph the back of the instrument and had a picture snapped with him. I invited him to play the instrument, he realized the bow had no rosin, and he taught me how to rosin the bow for the first time. Thus began my life as I now know it."

Olivia also started learning to play music when she was a child. She started playing violin at age eight and started recording her own music while still in high school.

ano, accompanied me on violin solos, and continues to set a stellar example of teaching her students with joy and patience and practicing determinedly," said Olivia, "Fiddler/composer/jazz violinist Jeremy Kittel was my favorite artist growing up; I'm sure his music contributed to my love for folk music. French composers Debussy and Satie have been influences in my piano compositions.

"Lately, I've really enjoyed the music of the Danish String Quartet and the Windborne vocal quartet. There's something I love about the sound of the four voices in both a string quartet and a vocal quartet, especially when they're playing/singing arrangements of folk tunes."

Both also teach music, with Olivia teaching private lessons and Will teaching at the Southwest Michigan School of Music in Stevensville.

ortunity to teach just fell into my lap, to be honest," Olivia said, "A few people started coming to me asking for lessons when I was in high school, and that was a great way to ease into teaching and test the waters.

"I figured I'd always continue teaching at least a few private lessons, but as I went to college, I envisioned my career being more oriented around music composition, which was my major."

One of the most memorable moments the couple shared while their music careers were budding was a 2015 performance in Chichen Itza, Mexico, with the Opera Maya International Orchestra. According to the Mullers, they were the fourth group behind Elton John, Sarah Brightman, Armando Manzaniro, and Placido Domingo. Although some issues with scheduling nearly canceled their performance, they were able to play.

What made it memorable was that Indigenous Mayan people were brought to hear the music, the lyrics of which were in their language. Also, this performance was the second time Will and Olivia had met, which helped jumpstart their then-budding friendship.

s in 2022, when Will had the opportunity to play for the Grand Rapids-based musical group Hark Up for that year's Christmas show. During a performance of "Hey Jude," fake snow flurried around the stage, and the audience's reaction was unrestrained joy and celebration.

For that reason, Will was so elated that he had an "out-of-body experience" during it.

The Mullers said that music has significantly enriched their lives. Olivia said that a lot of what has come to her couldn't have happened were it not for music.

"Music is my passion, my career, my free time, my therapy, and my means of expressing myself," she said, "Many beautiful friendships have formed because of this musical journey. Will and I wouldn't have met (let alone gotten married) if it weren't for our mutual love for music.

Music has many times lifted my spirits and given me strength in times of depression. It also pushes me to set personal goals, since I always want to grow my musical skills and knowledge."

Will said being a professional musician has also enriched his life. According to Will, music is a critical aspect to humanity.

"Music is a key ingredient of humanity's fundamental nature as storytellers," he said, "James K. A. Smith critiqued the 17th-century Cartesian adage, 'I think, therefore I am,' suggesting instead, 'I love, therefore I am.' His goal in re-framing our human experience is to emphasize the extent to which we are animated and motivated not primarily by reason and logic but by our desires and longings. The goal of the artist is this: to draw the audience into a portrayal of reality with its own set of ideals with and by which the audience's longings can interact, be shaped, be affirmed, and be challenged.

"Immersion into the world of music as a listener, teacher, and performer continues to shape me into a better individual and member of society. Music connects me to other people and other realities. Music animates and enriches my humanity. And it also pays the bills right now."