Arts Council of the Valley (ACV) Executive Director Jenny Burden announced that Justin C. Reiter has been selected as Court Square Theater’s new managing director.
Reiter was scheduled to begin his new role on October 7, 2024.
“We are excited, after a competitive search, to welcome someone with Justin’s credentials into this position,” ACV Board President Maureen Pearson said. “In addition to his experience in the theater industry, which is substantial, he also brings an extensive background of leadership in the arts nonprofit sector.”
Since 2020, Reiter has served as executive director for the Masonic Theatre Preservation Foundation in Clifton Forge, where he was instrumental in navigating the closeout of New Market and Historic Tax Credits used for a 2016 $6.9 million theatre renovation.
His career also includes six years as executive director for the American Frontier Culture Foundation in Staunton, and three years as President & CEO for the Heifetz International Music Institute, helping coordinate that organization’s 2011 move from Columbia, Maryland to Staunton.
Prior to joining Heifetz, Reiter was production manager for one of the largest producers of Broadway touring musicals, touring the world with Hairspray, Cabaret, Rent, Lincoln Center’s South Pacific, Tap Dogs, and Jekyll and Hyde and Cirque.
Reiter has worked on segments for Regis and Kathie Lee, Late Night with David Letterman, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Quincy Jones-the First 50 Years. He also served as production manager and floor director for the PBS-award winning television series “The Lonesome Pine Specials” for eight years. Reiter was technical director for the Kentucky Center for the Arts, the Actors Studio and the Waldorf Astoria Ballroom, as well as general manager for the Schuster Performing Arts Center in Dayton, Ohio. He chaired a successful $1 million campaign to fund a new home for the Dayton Theatre Guild, and has served on nonprofit boards in Kentucky, New York, Ohio and Virginia.
Through decades of work with nonprofit and for-profit arts and cultural organizations, Reiter has acquired extensive knowledge in fiduciary responsibilities; strategic planning; regulatory policy creation; marketing; fundraising; and contract negotiation.
From Louisville, Kentucky, Reiter attended New York University and the Leadership Development Program at the Center for Creative Leadership. He is principal and owner of Reiter Group, a nonprofit consulting firm.
At 311 South Main Street in Harrisonburg, Arts Council of the Valley is a 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to cultivating the arts, creating experiences and connecting communities throughout the city of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. Programs are supported, in part, by 2024 Cultivating the Arts Platinum Sponsors: Eugene Stoltzfus Architects, James McHone Jewelry, Kathy Moran Wealth Group, Matchbox Realty and Riner Rentals.
Since 2000, ACV has grown into a multi-faceted community organization that fosters innovative partnerships among area businesses, civic organizations, schools and artists. ACV manages Court Square Theater and Smith House Galleries, funds local art projects through its Advancing the Arts grant program (awarding more than $498,300 since 2001), supports public art initiatives and coordinates monthly First Fridays of the Valley community gatherings.
ACV is supported in part by the city of Harrisonburg, the Harrisonburg Redevelopment & Housing Authority and the Virginia Commission for the Arts, which receives support from the Virginia General Assembly and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.
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Rebecca Barnabi
