The board of the East Coast Music Association (ECMA) has released a statement on their upcoming awards ceremony in St. John’s, taking accountability for how they handled the release of their CEO this past January.
The ceremony has been in a difficult spot the last few months. Six nominees have dropped out, including Jeremy Dutcher, Mo Kenney, and Wolf Castle. This is in response to the ECMA letting go of CEO Blanche Israël in January, who was chosen to lead the event in March of 2024.
According to an official statement made by the board on their website on March 19th, the decision to part ways with Israel came due to multiple factors. The official statement says:
“There was lost institutional knowledge, decisions being made without Board approval, and legal risks we couldn’t ignore. At that point, we had to act to get things back on track. And, as unfortunate as it is, we had to make a difficult decision. We recognize and regret that the way we handled it left members feeling blindsided. That’s on us.”
“The event is not at risk,” said Michelle Eagles, the chair of the board. In a recent interview with us, she explained the current status of the ceremony. According to Eagles, the show is now back on track, thanks to a joint effort between the board and staff, as well as the contractors, who are now all back in place. “At this point, the event is in very good shape.”
In terms of the artists, the ceremony features “one of the best award show lineups we’ve ever had,” according to Eagles. All artist slots for showcases and the accelerator program, their program to support up and coming artists, are completely full, with the latter having almost 100 delegates. In their official statement, the board stated that they are “fully prepared for the event in St. John’s, and there is no way we would let it be in jeopardy.”
The event features nearly 250 nominees across many different awards. MUN music prof Florian Hoefner is up for an award, being nominated for Classical Composer of the Year.
“It’s always nice to see the recognition from the music community in the Atlantic provinces,” said Hoefner. “This nomination is special for me because it is in a new category. It’s my first time being nominated as a classical composer.”
After the ups-and-downs of the last few months, it looks like things are back on track, with members such as Hoefner being “glad that the Board is taking the concerns of the members seriously.”
The event is expected to bring in around six million dollars of economic benefit to the city of St. John’s and surrounding areas. The ECMA Awards will take place from Friday, May 9th to Sunday, May 11th.
We reached out to former CEO Blanche Israël via LinkedIn for comment, and will update with response.
