As events have transpired, the International Bluegrass Music Association will be technically leaderless until a new Executive Director can be found and brought aboard.
Outgoing director Dan Hays has moved to his new position with The Franklin Theater, while the IBMA Board of Directors is still conducting its search for a replacement. Board President Stan Zdonik told us that they had hoped to avoid leaving the organization without an ED for any lengthy period of time, but that the time frame for meeting privately with the first, and now second round of candidates has pushed the decision into March.
“We believe that finding the right person trumps working to a deadline. We are moving forward, but the process is taking longer than anticipated.”
Zdonik also contended that what we reported in David Morris’ piece on IBMA finances last month misstated the status of the search.
“In David’s article, he stated that we were finished with interviews. That was not quite correct. We were done with our first round of interviews, and are now doing in-person interviews with a much smaller group.”
Best of luck to the IBMA Executive and Search Committees as they narrow their list of candidates and choose a new director. Stan says that he hopes to have an announcement soon, and that Dan Hays has agreed to make himself available as needed to help with the transition.
