New members elected to IBMA Board

The International Bluegrass Music Association in Nashville has announced that four new members of their Board of Directors have been elected by their member constituencies, and one other re-elected.

The Board consists of 19 voting members, and two ex-officio members. They are responsible for overseeing the management of the organization, and their full time staff of five people. 12 members are elected by specific constituencies, and 2 are elected by the full membership at large. The other 7 are appointed by the Board. According to the IBMA By-Laws, the 2 ex-officio members are the Executive Director of the IBMA and the Executive Director of the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum.

Claire Armbruster was re-elected to her position on the Board representing Event Production, and the following were newly elected:

  • Kyle Cantrell – At Large
  • Michelle Conceison – Agents, Managers, and Publicists
  • Adam Engelhardt – Recording, Distribution, and Marketing
  • Joe Newberry – Artists, Composers, and Publishers

All are longstanding members of the bluegrass music industry. Armbruster manages her own event management firm, Planning Stages; Cantrell is the host of Bluegrass Junction on SiriusXM; Conceison is an Associate Professor of Music Business at Middle Tennessee State University and artist manager for Della Mae and Sarah Siskind; Engelhardt is a successful engineer and producer and owner of Engelhardt Music Group; and Newberry is a multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter who performs in a variety of settings in bluegrass.

All save Newberry, who lives in Raleigh, NC, currently reside in Nashville.

They will be seated on the Board following their June 10-11 meeting in Nashville. That meeting will also seat 3 At Large members selected by the Board, and choose members of the IBMA Executive Committee.

Board members are elected to a 3-year term, and may be re-elected one time. 

More information about IBMA, the trade association for the bluegrass industry, can be found online.

Share this:

About the Author

John Lawless

John had served as primary author and editor for The Bluegrass Blog from its launch in 2006 until being folded into Bluegrass Today in September of 2011. He continues in that capacity here, managing a strong team of columnists and correspondents.