During a press conference held this week at the Delta St. John’s Hotel and Conference Centre, the East Coast Music Association proudly announced Newfoundland super group RYAN’S FANCY as the recipient of the Dr. Helen Creighton Lifetime Achievement Award for 2004. This award recognizes an individual or group who has had a profound and lasting effect on the Atlantic Canadian music industry. The Board of Directors of the ECMA determines the recipient of this award.
“Ryan’s Fancy has been a bridge connecting generations, musical styles and cultures. They have given the region a rich musical contribution and have created in the process a deserved legacy,” says ECMA Vice-Chair and Newfoundland and Labrador board member Robert Buck. “They adopted the culture they found here, reveled in it and took an active role in uncovering the rich tapestry of poems and music created by the people of Atlantic Canada.”
In addition to recording several successful albums, Ryan’s Fancy also hosted regional, national and international television broadcasts that took the music of the East Coast across Canada and around the world. Their on-location shoots took the band to dozens of communities in every province on the East Coast.
Ryan’s Fancy will be honoured at the East Coast Music Gala Awards Show on Sunday, February 15, 2004, in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. The Gala is broadcast nationally on CBC Television and simulcast on CBC Radio Two. Tickets for the Awards Gala are $39.50 and will go on sale, November 20, 2003 at Mile One Stadium, St. John’s.
The ECMA Event Organizing Committee also announced its partners and sponsors who are helping to make the 2004 ECMAs possible. The Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA), Human Resources Development Canada, and the City of St. John’s are the supporting government partners. The ECMA is also very grateful to their platinum sponsors are CBC Television, The Delta St. John’s Hotel and Conference Centre, Labatt’s Breweries, and FACTOR (Foundation to Assist Canadian Talent on Record). The gold sponsors are CBC Radio, Starmaker Fund, MC2 Communications Inc., Warner Music Canada, and Steele Communications. The silver sponsors are Yamaha Music Canada, Minolta, Avalon Convention and Visitors’ Bureau, Galaxie – CBC’s Continuous Music Network, Telefilm Canada, EMI Music Canada. And the bronze sponsors are Budget Car and Truck Rental and Universal Music Canada. ECMA is also delighted to have the support of SOCAN as a music industry partner and Dominion Stores as a sponsor of the Soundwaves school program.
The East Coast Music Awards and Conference is an annual event, organized by the not-for-profit organization East Coast Music Association, held in a different Atlantic community each year. The Awards and Conference 2004 is celebrating its 16th anniversary in St. John’s.
