New interim MusicNL CEO wants province to become a musical travel destination
CBC
The new interim CEO of MusicNL has gone from shipbuilding to building up Newfoundland and Labrador's music industry.
Leonard Pecore says the talent coming out of the province is some of the best in the globe, and he wants the world to know.
Pecore is the founder and corporate director of Genoa Design International, a Newfoundland and Labrador-based company that provides 3D modelling and design services to shipbuilding industries. He founded the company in 1995, and stepped away from its daily operations in 2022.
He spoke with Weekend AM host Heather Barrett about how founding a production design company led him to his current role with the province's music industry association and how he's using his longtime love of music to help propel the Newfoundland and Labrador arts scene forward.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Q: Why did you want to take on the job as interim CEO of MusicNL?
A: Probably since 2020, I've been slowly stepping away from operations at Genoa. And then really this year I just found myself, even though I sat on a number of different boards, I just found myself realizing I have more to do, more to give, and it was important what I did, what I gave to. So this opportunity just popped out of nowhere, really. And I felt like the universe just provided me the opportunity to jump in, so I did.
Before we get into what you're doing now with MusicNL, I'd like to remind our listeners a bit about Genoa Design and the company that you built here. Can you tell us a bit about Genoa?
Genoa does ship design and builds ships on computer in 3D, every little piece, every little part. And then provides that information to a ship builder to construct the vessel.
And of course, the people that work in that field are very technical people.
Oh yes.
Which sounds to, you know, the layperson, quite the opposite of the people who would be working with MusicNL?
Yes, and no.… So there are interesting parallels and differences. Obviously the difference being what we label technical and what we label artistic, but really you build up skills and then you apply those skills and grow. There is an element of creativity in the technical skills that the people at Genoa Design use every day. And there's also a strong element of technical skill that's involved in any artist who wants to create. There are organizations that celebrate and foster that connection, Business and Arts Newfoundland Labrador.… So there are parallels, there's differences.
Now how well do you know local music, are you a fan?
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