Every year, thousands of music industry professionals decamp to Anaheim, California, for the massive National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) trade show, a four-day bonanza of product launches, performances and professional presentations. For four years now, John Towner ’85, director of the music business program at Elmhurst, has made sure that his students are there too.
This year, Towner led a group of 20 Elmhurst students, mostly music business majors, to NAMM. The convention center becomes a classroom for students as they attend workshops, meet industry professionals, and walk the vast trade show floor. Many of the students who made the trip received financial support from Dinah Gretsch, vice chair of the NAMM Foundation Board. Gretsch is also executive vice president and CFO of the Gretsch Company—a longtime supporter of Elmhurst’s music programs—and the wife of Gretsch Company President Fred W. Gretsch ’71.
“It’s a one-of-a-kind opportunity because you have the entire music industry under one roof,” Towner says. “There is no better opportunity to interact with professionals.”
The 2026 show celebrated NAMM’s 125th anniversary, and it attracted more than 60,000 attendees from 122 countries and some 500 guest speakers and performers. NAMM may be best known as a showcase for new products and high-tech gear—can I perhaps interest you in a brand new Neural DSP Quad Cortex Mini effects processor?—but for Towner’s students, the show’s true stars are the people to meet in and around the convention floor.
“The place is just huge, and everywhere you turn there are people making music and talking about music,” says Eliana Kiltz ’27, a music business major. “It’s inspiring, because people are so willing to talk to you about the work they do and to help you further yourself professionally.”
When not forging new connections on the convention floor, the Elmhurst students toured Los Angeles’ historic Paramount Recording Studios and visited Position Music, a music licensing and artist management company, where staffers fielded questions about life in the industry.
Students also reconnected with two Elmhurst alumni working in the entertainment industry. Ke’ala Valencia ’20 works for AEG, an international concert promoter, and Geo Calawerts ’21 works as a production assistant for Sony TV.
“Meeting people who are thriving in the field gives students a real confidence boost. It helps make the business feel more accessible,” Towner says. “They’re meeting people who not long ago were in their shoes as students. And they start to understand that they can do this too. That self-confidence can be as important as your knowledge and your experience.”
Kiltz agrees. “My experience at NAMM made me even more motivated and excited to enter the music industry,” she says. “I feel like the possibilities are endless.”