Gordon Henderson - DCI Hall of Fame

Gordon Henderson

Inducted in 2024

Gordon Henderson is a marching music talent that has been able to expertly straddle the line between the college band and drum corps worlds.

A professor emeritus at UCLA, Henderson served as director of the UCLA Bruin Marching and Varsity Band from 1982 to 2019 while also having a major hand in the DCI World Championship titles of the Santa Clara Vanguard (1989, 1999) and The Cavaliers (1992).

Henderson, a man of many talents, started out as a soprano bugle instructor with the Vanguard in the early ‘80s but soon became part of the visual design staff and eventually musical arranger. He gained a reputation as a big-picture thinker who served the corps he worked with well.

“Gordon’s past long-standing involvement as a member of various DCI corps’ staffs is illustrious, particularly when one considers the variety of roles in which he served, including brass arranger, brass instructor, drill designer, visual coordinator, program consultant and program coordinator,” DCI Hall of Fame member Tim Salzman said.

The length of Henderson’s association with various top-level corps is also impressive: 14 years with the Santa Clara Vanguard, six seasons with The Cavaliers, two seasons with The Cadets and additional seasons with The Academy, Colts, Pacific Crest, Troopers, Imperial Guard, Pride of Cincinnati and Capital Regiment.

Henderson is also a highly-regarded arranger, consultant, clinician, and adjudicator around the world. From the Netherlands to Thailand, his expertise and passion for the marching arts know no boundaries. Nor does his gift for bringing along the next generation of educators.

“Gordon gave me my start,” Bluecoats program coordinator Dean Westman said. “He put my championship medal around my neck on the field at Camp Randall Stadium (with The Cavaliers in 1992) and said ‘So, do you want a job?’”

“That moment changed my life,” Westman explained. “Every single wonderful thing that has happened to me in my career in DCI and public education can be directly traced back to that life-changing moment.”