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Andrew Buikema (Rockford, Michigan) has 25 years of experience in design and instruction in marching band programming and 14 years of teaching experience as a Director of Bands in Michigan (Grant, MI). His marching bands were incredibly successful at local, state, and national competitions and were regular participants in Bands of America (BOA) Regional and Grand National Championships. His bands and jazz bands were also regular participants in Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association festivals and clinics.
His love for the marching arts began with experiencing the pageantry of drum corps in the early ’90s by watching Drum Corps International finals and especially Phantom Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps, an organization that he would later join and perform with in 2000. Buikema studied music education at Western Michigan University (WMU) in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and he has a Master of Education from Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan. He was also a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia and the “Sound of Western” at WMU.
Buikema’s adjudication experience includes BOA, Michigan Competing Band Association, Kentucky Music Educators Association, and Scholastic Bands. He is an active drill writer, clinician, and adjudicator.
Buikema lives in Rockford, Michigan with his wife and amazing English bulldog, Rubble. He works as an Assistant Principal at Sparta Middle School.