Scott Boerma - DCI Hall of Fame

Scott Boerma

Inducted in 2024

Scott Boerma is a teacher’s teacher. He’s also part of the Madison Scouts’ DNA.

For more than a decade, Boerma has served as the Director of Bands and Professor of Music at Western Michigan University. Before that, he led the University of Michigan Marching Band onto that giant yellow “M” at “The Big House” every Saturday. Throughout his stellar academic career, Boerma has been creating memorable drum corps performances as well.

Boerma started his marching career as a baritone player with the Madison Scouts in 1984. He became a member of the brass staff in ’86. As co-caption head, he was charged with reworking some of the corps’ brass arrangements in 1988, and the Scouts went on to win their second DCI World Championship title. In 1989, Boerma officially became the corps’ arranger, teaching as he wrote.

Under his leadership, the Madison Scouts brass section placed in the top five in brass performance at the DCI World Championships nine times, taking home the Jim Ott Best Brass Performance caption award in 1995. In all, Boerma has spent more than a quarter of a century shaping the Scouts’ sound and programs.

“Scott not only contributed of himself tirelessly but led by example,” DCI Hall of Fame member Sal Salas said. “He has inspired young adults to teach passionately and to be creative. His passion not only comes through his music but his teaching as well.”

Boerma was the arranger for a resurgent Spirit of Atlanta from 2008-2014, and throughout his career he also arranged music for Southwind, Seattle Cascades, Pioneer, Magic of Orlando, and the Americanos. His arrangements have also been featured by a number of all-age and international corps including the Yokohama Inspires, Minnesota Brass, Racine Kilties, Hawthorne Caballeros, and the Pride of Paisley (Scotland).

While Boerma may be best remembered for his timeless arrangements and compositions for the Madison Scouts the likes of “Malaga,” “The Pirates of Lake Mendota” and “Jesus Christ Superstar,” another one of his arrangements was extensively woven into the fabric of Drum Corps International history, played by thousands of performers across DCI’s corps.

In 1994, Boerma was commissioned to arrange “America the Beautiful” for Drum Corps Midwest, which was featured as corps assembled and played en masse during each event’s awards ceremony. He added “O Canada” to the arrangement in 1996, and it became an annual staple to celebrate the conclusion of the DCI World Championship Finals into the 2000s. When Drum Corps International celebrated its 40th anniversary, Boerma once again stepped up with a new arrangement for the combined corps, as “Simple Gifts” took center stage during the finale of the 2012 DCI Finals in Indianapolis.

“Scott represents the best of us and what we claim is at the core of our values,” said Phantom Regiment’s Dr. Todd Snead. “He is talented, hardworking, collegial, kind, passionate, and makes the world a better place through his craft. He has dedicated his life to music, to education, and to this activity.”