PICTOU – The longtime creative director of the deCoste Centre is stepping down and the founder of the Stan Rogers Folk Festival will take his place.
For 31 years, John Meir has provided the artistic direction of the deCoste. He is the deCoste's longest-serving employee and a statement from the Centre says Meir has been winding down his tenure for the past number of months.
“At its March 20 board meeting, the board of directors of the deCoste Centre ratified the hiring of a new creative director, who will start work at the first of April,” the statement says. “Troy Greencorn was selected to fill this position after an extensive search and thorough selection process.”
Greencorn is known in Atlantic Canada for his work not only with the Stan Rogers Folk Festival, which he founded in 1997, but also as the event manager of the East Coast Music Awards Conference and Festival. He produced the ECMA event in Halifax, Fredericton, Corner Brook, Sydney twice and Charlottetown twice.
“I am very excited to step into this opportunity with the deCoste Centre. Like the Rebecca Cohn or the Savoy, I consider the deCoste one of Nova Scotia’s signature performance venues. I’m proud to join with fellow staff and the board to chart the centre’s future programming and very humbled to be entrusted with continuing the great work John has done for over the past 30 years,” Greencorn said.
“I’m also comforted that he and general manager Darlene MacDonald will aid in the transition by sharing their history and experiences with me. I feel my community development, event management, financial planning, programming and industry development work with ECMA and Stanfest have led me to this position. It’s a great next step in my career. I’m eager to get settled in Pictou and get to work.”
On behalf of the board of directors, chair Wayne MacGillivary stated, “We’re pleased that our candidate search led us to Troy. We saw in him an energy level, track record of creative accomplishments, body of experience and level of professionalism that we felt would make him a great new member of our team,” he said.
“In his work over the past 17 years he has booked hundreds of artists from a diverse mix of genres. He has also excelled at developing partnerships with community organizations, corporate supporters and government. He has a high profile in the artistic sector nationally and we hope to continue to build the deCoste’s brand and profile under his creative direction.”
