<h2>Red Wing Roots Music Festival Named 2025 Recipient of the Circle of Excellence in the Arts Award</h2> <h5>Recognizing individuals and organizations that enhance and strengthen the Shenandoah Valley’s Cultural Community</h5>

Friday, June 12, 2026 (Harrisonburg, Va.) – When Regan Byrne arrived at James Madison University in 2010, she sat down at an empty desk, in a brand-new building, and got to work. There were no systems, no audience, and no roadmap, just a state-of-the-art performing arts center waiting to become something.

What she built over the next 16 years as the Executive Director of the Forbes Center would permanently change the cultural landscape of the Shenandoah Valley in ways that we still enjoy today. On Tuesday, June 11, 2026, Byrne received the 2026 Circle of Excellence in the Arts Award in a surprise presentation before a room full of the people who she’s championed for years.

Under Byrne’s direction, the Forbes Center grew into a destination for world-class performances, presenting more than 300 live events per year. Yet, from the beginning, Byrne understood that a great performing arts center is not just about what happens on stage.

What set her apart was the heart she put into everything she did. She built the Forbes Center's volunteer usher program from nothing into a 150-person community. She was a founding board member of Any Given Child Shenandoah Valley and partnered with the organization to welcome over 16,000 K–8 students to free performances at JMU. The annual JMU Symphony Orchestra Discovery Concert, which she expanded, now brings 2,000 fourth graders from 32 elementary schools each year. Simply put, she felt strongly that the arts belonged to every child in the Valley, not just those whose families could afford a ticket, and she dedicated her career to finding ways to make it happen.

Byrne’s arts advocacy also bled into higher education where she insisted that every major guest artist lead a masterclass with JMU students before taking the stage. More than 120 such masterclasses have happened on her watch, along with 22 side-by-side performances pairing professional artists with JMU ensembles, among them Patti LuPone, Chick Corea, Béla Fleck, and the Soweto Gospel Choir. She believed deeply that proximity to greatness changes young artists, and she engineered those moments very deliberately.

There is one final detail worth noting. The Circle of Excellence in the Arts Award, the very honor Byrne received on Thursday night by surprise, is a program she created in partnership with the Arts Council of the Valley to ensure that artistic excellence across the region would always be recognized. In its own quiet way, it’s the perfect summary of who she is: someone who builds stages and makes sure others get to stand on them. As Regan is now transitioning into retirement after a celebrated career, it’s her turn to stand on the stage and be recognized. But anyone expecting her to slow down will be disappointed. She is writing a play, becoming a wedding officiant, traveling, and spending time in her garden. The Valley has not heard the last of her, that’s for sure.

The Circle of Excellence in the Arts Award is co-sponsored by the Forbes Center for the Performing Arts, the Arts Council of the Valley, and JMU’s College of Visual and Performing Arts and recognizes individuals and organizations in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, that enhance and strengthen the cultural community by promoting and advocating for artistic excellence. 

The Circle of Excellence in the Arts Award recognizes an Augusta or Rockingham County, Harrisonburg, Staunton, or Waynesboro visual or performing artist, arts administrator, arts educator, or organization whose significant and superior accomplishments in the arts have improved the cultural vitality of the Valley.  

Past Circle of Excellence in the Arts Award Winners:

• 2025 – Red Wing Roots Music Festival, Mount Solon, VA
• 2024 – Waynesboro Symphony Orchestra
• 2023 – Heifetz International Music Institute, Staunton, VA
• 2022 - Earlynn J. Miller, Harrisonburg, VA
• 2021 - Harrisonburg International Festival, Harrisonburg, VA
• 2020 - The Shenandoah Valley Choral Society, Harrisonburg, VA
• 2019 - Staunton-Augusta Art Center, Staunton, VA, and Shenandoah Valley Art Center, Waynesboro, VA
  2018 - Pamela McCray, Shenandoah Civic Dance Company and Staunton Academy of Ballet, Staunton, VA
• 2017 - Dr. Joanne V. Gabbin, Furious Flower Poetry Center, JMU, Harrisonburg, VA
• 2016 - American Shakespeare Center, Staunton, VA
• 2015 - Ken Nafziger, The Bach Festival, Harrisonburg, VA
• 2014 - OASIS Fine Art & Craft, Harrisonburg, VA
• 2013 - Stan Swartz - Harrisonburg High School, Harrisonburg, VA