Gavin Burnham played an important role in support of the Minnesota Brass for more than 10 years before he joined the marching ranks as a soloist in 1984. He has filled a number of important positions with Minnesota Brass and other midwestern corps since then. With the Brass, he has been assistant corps director, chief financial officer, treasurer, horn line manager, fund raising co-ordinator, gambling advisor and recruiting officer. He served on the executive board of Drum Corps Midwest (DCM) in 1984, and has been on the board of directors of a number of color guards and percussion groups in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota. He has played a particularly strong role as a financial advisor for many groups, helping set up drum and bugle corps as non-profit organizations with a self-funding structure. He has also provided valuable advice about debt re-organization. He received many performance awards and has won the Brassy Award, the highest honor bestowed by Minnesota Brass, considered as the Minnesota Brass Hall of Fame and lifetime achievement award. He has been selected as the DCM director of the year, and was corps director in 1999 when the Minnesota Brass was the first senior corps to win the DCM corps of the year award.
