Dr. Scott Boerma

Scott Boerma 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 the Michigan public schools at Novi and Lamphere High Schools. Boerma earned his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in wind conducting at Michigan State University, his Master of Music degree in music education from the University of Michigan, and his Bachelor of Music degree in music education from Western Michigan University.

Boerma is active as a band/orchestra conductor, adjudicator, and clinician. He serves 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.

An active composer, Boerma’s concert band works have been performed by many outstanding ensembles, including “The President’s Own” Marine Band, the Dallas Wind Symphony, and the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra, to name just a few. His music has been heard in such venues as Carnegie Hall and at the Chicago Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic. Boerma’s works have been featured in the popular GIA series, “Teaching Music Through Performance in Band.”

Also a prolific arranger, Boerma receives yearly commissions to write music for many university and high school marching bands and drum and bugle corps. From 1989-2006 and from 2014-present, he has been the music arranger for the top-ranking Madison Scouts Drum & Bugle Corps. In addition to many of the university and high school marching bands across the nation, most of the Big Ten university bands have performed Boerma’s arrangements. Boerma has also written arrangements for the Detroit Chamber Winds Brass.