The Midwest Clinic 2026

How it compares

TMEA Clinic/Convention in San Antonio each February is the bigger crowd, at about 30,000 attendees and more than 600 exhibiting companies, and it covers choir and elementary music as well as instrumental ensembles. It is a state association's convention built around Texas teachers. A company that sells to all school music departments in Texas gets more from San Antonio; one that sells band and orchestra products across the country gets more from Chicago, where directors from every state share one hall.

The Texas Bandmasters Association Convention, also in San Antonio, meets each July and is narrower still: Texas band directors in summer. It suits marching and concert band suppliers whose customers are mostly Texas programs.

The NAMM Show in Anaheim each January serves a different buyer. Its 1,650 exhibitors and 60,000 visitors are mostly retailers, distributors and manufacturers doing channel business. An instrument maker or publisher reaches dealers there and the directors who choose instruments and repertoire at The Midwest Clinic.

State conferences such as PMEA and FMEA reach teachers in one state across every music discipline. The Midwest Clinic is the choice when the goal is national reach among instrumental directors in a single trip.

The Midwest Clinic is the trip for band, orchestra and jazz directors choosing next year's music and equipment, and for the publishers, instrument makers and travel companies that want to meet those directors from every state in one hall.

Who exhibits

The hall is where school music programs shop. Publishers such as Hal Leonard, Alfred Music and Neil A. Kjos Music Company sit near instrument makers Yamaha Corporation of America, Conn Selmer and Buffet Crampon, uniform suppliers such as Stanbury Uniforms, and tour operators such as Bob Rogers Travel. University music schools including Boston University and Brigham Young University recruit from booths, and so do the Marine Band and other military ensembles. Because concert music must come from eligible publishers, the publishing side of the hall is unusually full.

This year's list is on its way. A HallBrief brief picks the exhibitors worth meeting for your goals and the people to talk to at each. Get a brief

The Midwest Clinic 2026

This year's show is the 80th. Two pre-conference intensives, one for jazz and one for percussion, run the day before the exhibits open, and jazz participants now receive a year of Jazz Education Network membership. The exhibit hall adds interactive sessions such as a drum circle with a percussion Q&A at the back of Hall F2, and Product Showcase sessions from Yamaha, Wenger, Hal Leonard and MakeMusic run alongside the clinics. College Night returns on Thursday evening, with university and military music programs meeting students in the Skyline Ballroom.

• Read the concert programs before you arrive: every piece comes from an eligible publisher, so you can hear a work in a concert and find the score at that publisher's booth the same day.
• Do instrument trials on Wednesday or Thursday. Friday is the short day in the hall, and dismantling starts as soon as it closes.
• Bring students looking at music degrees on Thursday, when the High School Leadership Institute runs during the day and College Night follows in the evening.
• Parents of performing students need their own badge to see the concert. Directors receive a limited number of free chaperone codes, so ask for one early.

Exhibiting

A stand is a 10 by 10 foot booth with back drape and side rails, a sign, listings in the program and app, Wi-Fi and four badges; carpet, furniture, power and labor are ordered from The Expo Group under McCormick Place union rules. Applications open in January with a one-month early-bird discount, and booths are assigned with weight on seniority and educational value. The stand pays off most for publishers, since exhibiting lets them have any number of pieces performed in the concerts.