Michael Boo (2)

Michael Boo was a long time staff writer at Drum Corps International. Born October 5, 1955, died Chesterton, IN November 18, 2020. Affectionately dubbed by many as the “Pen of Pageantry” after working on projects for Drum Corps International, Winter Guard International and Bands Of America for decades, there is perhaps no one who has amassed a bigger portfolio of writings about the breadth of the modern-day competitive marching arts than Michael Boo. Originally hired in 1989 as a Drum Corps International staff writer to put together the corps program synopses for the organization’s annual souvenir yearbooks, Boo’s byline has been a fixture across DCI’s print publications and website ever since, credited to a diverse array of media including feature articles, CD and DVD liner notes, live play-by-play event blogs, podcast and video commentary, and more. Michael Boo has been a performing percussionist for more than 50 years. He has been involved in drum and bugle corps activity since 1975, when he played mallets in Chicago Cavaliers for three seasons and was later commissioned to compose an original opener for the Cavaliers’ 35th anniversary. Prior to aging out of drum corps in 1977, he received a Bachelor of Music Education degree from VanderCook College Of Music in Chicago and became a band director. He then earned a Master of Music degree from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, IL, majoring in music composition and theory. Since then, he has written several published arrangements and compositions for percussion soloists and ensembles, in addition to original works for concert band. He also arranges for handbells and British brass bands. He has judged marching band contests around the country and currently serves as a judge for solo-ensemble events in Indiana. Mr. Boo was the Staff Writer for Drum Corps International, writing articles every week for DCI.org and traveling during the summer to blog for DCI and interview corps staff and marching members. Each year he also writes up the Bands Of America Grand National Championships for Music for All/BOA’s magazine and liner notes. He also wrote for Winter Guard International (WGI) for most of the organization’s four decades of existence, covering winter guard, indoor marching percussion and WGI Winds events. He was extensively involved with music programs at Valparaiso University in northwest Indiana and regularly arranges and composes works for various VU bands, and is also the Composer in Residence for the Windiana Concert Band, an organization for which he has created over 60 works. In 2016 that association took him to Honolulu for the 75th anniversary commemoration of the attack on Pearl Harbor, and New Year's 2018-19 he was touring Italy with Windiana as the band plays several of his works. His association with the Confucius Institute of Valparaiso University has taken him to China nine times, and his dozens of arrangements and compositions based on Chinese folk songs, pop songs and original works has led to him writing for Chinese music events held in Chicago’s Symphony Center and Millennium Park, events attended by several thousand music lovers. In addition, he has given speeches at multiple public relations events in Indiana and Chicago for the Chinese press corps, Confucius Institute directors from several states, and the Consular General of the People’s Republic of China in Chicago.