“An Evening with Graham Nash” Brings Nash, Photo Exhibit to NAMM’s Museum of Making Music

In a star-studded event on Saturday, April 8, music icon Graham Nash, community champions and music education patrons came together to “Play it Forward” at NAMM’s Museum of Making Music’s (MoMM) gala fundraiser event, “An Evening with Graham Nash.” The annual event was attended by nearly 170 guests, and raised over $70,000 in donations that will further the MoMM’s mission to offer educational immersion opportunities, exhibitions, hands-on experiences, and live performances that inform and inspire guests on how musical instruments impact popular culture and connect lives.

Guests of the event enjoyed a cocktail and dessert reception, the opportunity to preview “The Photography of Graham Nash” photo exhibit, as well as bid on a live auction filled with items provided from generous museum donors. The evening’s main event included an hour-long concert performance by Nash, accompanied by guitarist Shane Fontayne (Lone Justice, Sting, Bruce Springsteen). Nash, a two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee and Grammy Award™ winner (Crosby Stills and Nash, The Hollies) performed hits spanning his career, including “Bus Stop,” “Marrakesh Express,” “Wasted on the Way,” “Teach Your Children,” and many others.

Of the museum, Nash shared, “[The museum] truly celebrates the organic nature of music and for all of us who believe in music’s healing power, it’s a very important place. There’re many studies today that prove this; this idea that music actually has therapeutic properties [and] that’s why I’m so happy to be affiliated with the Museum of Making Music. They understand the power and importance of music. Not just for the sheer joy that it gives us, but how it can help us, too.”

The gala event officially launched “The Photography of Graham Nash,” a new gallery exhibit featuring 29 photographs of famed artists photographed by Nash, including Joni Mitchell, Johnny Cash, Jerry Garcia, Judy Collins (with Stephen Stills), Neil Young, Cass Elliot, Taj Majal, David Crosby and Jackson Browne, along with some of Nash’s most significant quotes and song lyrics, blending his love of photography and music into one setting. The exhibit will be on display until August 31, 2017 and is included in the cost of admission.

Donations raised at the gala will also help offset the museum’s annual operating costs as it continues to provide access to visitors from around-the-world wishing to discover a century of instrument innovations that shaped American popular music. The museum offers a unique, memorable and educational adventure to 40,000 visitors each year by displaying over 500 vintage instruments and hundreds of audio and video clips from industry luminaries. Additionally, the museum’s year-round music education programs are crucial to thousands of children, adults and seniors. These efforts include the museum's Title One Fieldtrip Program, an annual venture that provides free access to the museum for low-income students, as well as a scholarship program that enables fixed-income adults and seniors the opportunity to learn a musical instrument.

“Sharing the vibrant history of the music products industry would not be possible without the generous spirit of NAMM members and our many community donors,” said Carolyn Grant, Executive Director of the MoMM. “I am deeply grateful to those who share in our vision and strive to make the world a more music place, one person at a time.”

The gala received generous support from museum members, patrons, NAMM members and local businesses. Major sponsors included Securematics and

Zuza Marketing/Printing/Mailing, South Coast Winery, Stone Brewing Co., and Morrison Hotel Gallery Fine Art and Photography. Additional support was provided from Birch Aquarium, Carlsbad Fire Department, Cobra/Puma Golf, Disneyland, Fratelli’s, Fortis Fitness and Strength Training, Fundraising Rides, H2Odyssey, Pamela Underwood Expressive Arts Studio, Sandy Radom Photography, Stellaluna, The Country Club at Rancho Bernardo, The Crossings at Carlsbad, Vista Valley Country Club, Fortis/YOGALUX, and many other generous donors who helped make the evening a great success.

Photos from the event are available for editorial use; credit Tim Whitehouse for MoMM: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/kg6ft0bg2ncp5fu/AADqTuydh3dAaCDNa_g105NZa?dl=0

About the Museum of Making Music

NAMM's Museum of Making Music presents the storied history of music instruments and products - from invention, to creation, to market - as its canvas to enrich people of all ages and backgrounds. They do this by offering educational immersion opportunities, exhibitions, hands-on experiences, and live performances that inform and inspire, while demonstrating how musical instruments impact popular culture and connect lives.

A division of the NAMM Foundation, the museum opened at the NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) headquarters in March, 2000 and is the only museum of the music products industry, and the only museum worldwide that focuses on the ecosystem of music making from 1900 to present day. For details on the museum’s concerts, exhibits, workshops and outreach programs, please visit www.museumofmakingmusic.com.