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Scott Boerma (Portage, MI) is the Director of Bands at Western Michigan University. Prior to this appointment, he was the Associate Director of Bands and Director of the Michigan Marching Band at the University of Michigan. Before those positions, Boerma was the Director of Bands at Eastern Michigan University, and he began his career teaching music in Michigan public schools. Boerma earned his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in wind conducting at Michigan State University and his Master of Music degree in music education at the University of Michigan, where he also studied composition with William Bolcom. He received his Bachelor of Music degree in music education from Western Michigan University.
Boerma is an elected member of the prestigious American Bandmasters Association. He is active as a band/orchestra conductor, adjudicator, and clinician, also serving as a guest conductor for several honor bands and community bands throughout the nation each year. He also conducts the Detroit Chamber Winds Brass holiday concerts.
Boerma’s concert band works have been performed by many outstanding ensembles, including “The President’s Own” U.S. Marine Band, the U.S. Navy Band, the Dallas Winds, the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra, the Kasetsart Winds (Bangkok, Thailand), and the Music for All Honor Band of America. His works have been featured in the popular GIA series “Teaching Music Through Performance in Band” and at The Midwest Clinic.
Also a prolific arranger, Boerma receives yearly commissions to write for many university and high school marching bands and drum and bugle corps. Since 1989, he has been the music arranger for the acclaimed Madison Scouts Drum & Bugle Corps. In addition to many ensembles across the nation, most of the Big Ten university marching bands have performed Boerma’s arrangements. He has also written arrangements for Broadway’s Blast!, the Boston Pops, the Boston Brass, and the Detroit Chamber Winds Brass.