Phillippa Martin Reiter appointed Director of Programming & Events
9 April 2026
Phillippa Martin Reiter has joined the executive team of City Recital Hall, Sydney in the new role of Director of Programming & Events, leading a merged programming and events team.
Phillippa joins City Recital Hall with twenty-years of live entertainment experience across three continents. Her career has spanned artist management and touring (IMG Artists, Symphony Services International), music projects for government (British Council), classical events and education programming (Australian Chamber Orchestra), producing festivals, contemporary music performances and, most recently, Head of Programming Operations at Sydney Opera House.
“City Recital Hall is renowned for classical music and rapidly growing a reputation for exceptional contemporary music and talk events. We are unashamedly seeking to lift utilisation of the Hall so that more locals and visitors alike can experience Sydney’s best acoustics, and the Director of Programming & Events role was created with that specific aim,” said CEO Kate Wickett.
“Phillippa Martin Reiter brings to the Hall an impressive skill set across programming, artist relations and operations, with existing relationships with many of our presenters and promoters. I’m excited to welcome Phillippa’s creative, commercial and operational leadership into City Recital Hall, and look forward to our team, partners, hirers and audiences benefiting from her contributions.”
City Recital Hall has been entertaining Sydney for over twenty-six years. The Hall’s programming and events team are responsible for the successful attraction / acquisition, on-boarding and delivery of all events at the Hall. Phillippa will lead the team of three event managers, with an additional role to be recruited this year to meet demand.
In 24/25 City Recital Hall’s acclaimed auditorium was utilised for 198 days in the year, across Key Presenting Partner programs (96 days), curated contemporary music program CRH Presents (45), and external hirers (59 days).
“City Recital Hall is one of Sydney’s most compelling venues, combining world-class acoustics with a diverse program spanning live music, talks and events. The Hall has real momentum - attracting a broad mix of artists and audiences, while maintaining a strong classical foundation. It is fast becoming one of the most dynamic venues to experience live music and events in the heart of the city. I’m very excited to build on that growth and help shape City Recital Hall’s next chapter,” said Phillippa Martin Reiter.
Image: Phillippa Martin Reiter at City Recital Hall, photo by Vitor Duarte.
About City Recital Hall
City Recital Hall opened over twenty-six years ago, designed to answer Sydney's need for a mid-sized venue that could offer the acoustics required for exceptional music performance.
The aim was to have a venue that could maintain the intimacy between artist and audience, but large enough to be commercially viable for concert producers. In the 1990s, a private-public partnership between the City of Sydney and AMP was formed, which would see the ground floors of a new corporate tower, right in the centre of the city, dedicated to realising this vision.
City Recital Hall was officially opened on 30 October 1999. It was the first purpose-built music venue to be established in Sydney since the Sydney Opera House in 1973.
In 2015 City Recital Hall Limited was established as a not-for-profit organisation to run the venue on the City of Sydney's behalf. The Hall remains a City of Sydney venue, on a long-term lease from the current venue owners Mirvac.
City Recital Hall is renowned for its classical programming, with the Hall the CBD home of five Key Presenting Partners - Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Musica Viva Australia, Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Pinchgut Opera.
In recent years, the Hall has earned a new legion of fans thanks to a rapid increase in contemporary music programming, from jazz, to rock, indie, cabaret and world music. In 2023 the option to remove the seating on level one became available, allowing the Hall to begin hosting electronic and dance events. The Hall has also become home to major festivals including Vivid Sydney and Sydney Festival.
In 2024 a major refurbishment of the foyers, bars and amenities was completed, resulting in several interior architecture award nominations. The same year, the sound system of the venue was replaced with the d&b Soundscape, cementing the Hall as one of the most acoustically exceptional live entertainment venues in Australia.
Today events at City Recital Hall are a mix of classical excellence delivered by the Key Presenting Partners and other companies, the CRH Presents contemporary music program curated by the Hall and often delivered in partnership with external promoters, and external hirer productions which range from talks, to film and music. The Hall is also home to a diverse range of private hires, including corporate events, memorials and film shoots, most recently as the home of ABC hit show The Piano.
Despite being a not-for-profit, the Hall generates over 81% of its own income. In 24/25, over 92% of ticket-buyers surveyed rated the venue as ‘good’ or ‘excellent’.