Jonathan Reekie has over 30 years leadership experience across festivals, the arts and creative industries. He began his career at Glyndebourne Opera and then went to be General Manager at the Almeida Theatre, founding Almeida Opera. In 1997 he took over as Chief Executive of Aldeburgh Music where he remained until 2014, a transformational period for the organization culminating in the Britten Centenary celebrations. In 2014 he became Director of Somerset House Trust, making it the home of cultural innovators, including Somerset House Studios launched in 2016. Today Somerset House works across arts, creativity, business, and non-profit; nurturing new talent, methods and technologies.

He is currently a trustee of the Clore Leadership Programme. Until recently he was Chair of the Strand Aldwych Joint Project Board, responsible for one of the biggest pedestrianisation projects in central London in the last decade. He has an Honorary Doctorate in Music from the University of East Anglia, is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music and in 2013 was awarded a CBE for services to music.