Tessitura (software) explained
Tessitura is an enterprise application used by performing arts and cultural organisations to manage their activities in ticketing, fundraising, customer relationship management, and marketing. It refers to itself as "arts enterprise software."
History and business model
Tessitura was originally developed by and for the Metropolitan Opera of New York.
One of the aspects which distinguishes Tessitura from most other commercial software is the business model chosen by the Metropolitan Opera to commercialize what was originally custom software. The Metropolitan Opera maintains ownership of the intellectual property in the original software, but established a separate organization called Tessitura Network (as a not-for-profit corporation with 501(c)(3) status under United States tax law) to manage the ongoing development and support of the system. The Tessitura Network now licenses users, handles management, maintenance and development of the system, and fosters an active exchange of best practices and knowledge sharing within the nonprofit arts and cultural sector. The Tessitura Network is effectively a cooperative enterprise, governed via a board elected by and from, and representative of, the licensees of the system.[1] [2] [3]
This business model has an obvious resonance with the not-for-profit and self-governing ethos of the arts community, and is one reason for the dominance Tessitura has rapidly achieved in the (deliberately restricted) market in which it operates–English-speaking, not-for-profit, arts organizations with a need for ticketing and fundraising systems.
System functionality
The Tessitura system is designed to be flexible, customizable, and open, and therefore can be tailored for each organization. Functional areas include ticketing, fundraising, constituent relationship management, Web API, and marketing tools.
Notable users
In the United States
- 5th Avenue Theatre (Seattle)
- 92nd Street Y (New York City)
- Academy of Vocal Arts (Philadelphia)
- ACT Theatre (Seattle)
- Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County
- American Repertory Theater
- Arena Stage (Washington, D.C.)
- Arizona Science Center (Phoenix, Arizona)
- Asolo Repertory Theatre (Sarasota, Florida)
- Atlanta Opera
- Atlanta Ballet
- AT&T Performing Arts Center (Dallas)
- Austin Opera (Austin, Texas)
- Austin Symphony Orchestra (Austin, Texas)
- Ballet Austin (Austin, Texas)
- Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
- Berkeley Repertory Theatre
- Boston Ballet
- Boston Symphony Orchestra
- Brooklyn Academy of Music
- Carnegie Hall
- Celebrity Series of Boston
- Center Theatre Group (Los Angeles)
- Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
- Chicago Shakespeare Theater
- Chicago Symphony Orchestra
- Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
- Cleveland Museum of Natural History
- Cleveland Orchestra
- Colorado Symphony Orchestra
- Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum (New York)
- Dallas Opera
- Dallas Symphony Orchestra
- Detroit Symphony Orchestra
- Florida Studio Theatre
- Folger Shakespeare Library
- Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra
- Freeman Arts Pavilion (Selbyville, Delaware)
- Georgia Aquarium (Atlanta)
- Goodman Theatre (Chicago)
- Grand Opera House (Wilmington, Delaware)
- Guthrie Theater (Minneapolis)
- High Museum of Art (Atlanta)
- Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra
- Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston)
- Ithaca College (Ithaca, New York)
- Jacksonville Symphony (Jacksonville, FL)
- Jacob's Pillow
- James Museum of Western and Wildlife Art (St. Petersburg, FL)
- Jazz at Lincoln Center (New York)
- John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (Washington, D.C.)
- Kaufman Music Center (New York City)
- Laguna Playhouse
- Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
- Los Angeles Master Chorale
- Los Angeles Opera
- Los Angeles Philharmonic
- Lyric Opera of Kansas City
- Miami City Ballet
- McCarter Theatre (Princeton, New Jersey)
- Minnesota Opera (Minneapolis, Minnesota)
- Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City)
- Metropolitan Opera (New York City)
- The Metropolitan Opera Guild (New York)
- Mondavi Center (Davis, California)
- Mount Vernon
- The Music Center at Strathmore (Rockville, MD)
- Nashville Opera (Nashville, Tennessee)
- Nashville Symphony (Nashville, Tennessee)
- National Geographic Museum (Washington, D.C.)
- New Victory Theater (New York City)
- New World Symphony (orchestra) (Miami Beach, Florida)
- New York Philharmonic (New York City)
- Opera Philadelphia
- Opera Theatre of Saint Louis
- Oregon Shakespeare Festival
- Peace Center (Greenville, South Carolina)
- Pennsylvania Ballet
- Perot Museum of Nature and Science (Dallas)
- Pittsburgh Cultural Trust
- Philadelphia Orchestra
- Phoenix Symphony
- Portland Center Stage (Oregon)
- Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts (Annandale-on-Hudson, New York)
- Ruth Eckerd Hall (Clearwater, Florida)
- San Diego Symphony
- San Francisco Ballet
- San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
- San Francisco Opera
- San Francisco Symphony
- SFJAZZ (San Francisco)
- San Jose Repertory Theatre
- Santa Fe Opera
- Science Museum of Minnesota
- Seattle Children's Theatre
- Seattle Opera
- Seattle Symphony
- Segerstrom Center for the Arts
- Shakespeare Theatre Company (Washington, DC)
- The Shed (Hudson Yards) (New York City)
- Signature Theatre Company (New York City)
- Smith Center for the Performing Arts (Las Vegas)
- Spoleto Festival USA (Charleston)
- Steppenwolf Theatre Company (Chicago)
- St. Louis Symphony
- Studio Theatre (Washington, D.C.)
- Tennessee Performing Arts Center (Nashville, Tennessee)
- Texas Ballet Theater (Fort Worth)
- TheatreWorks (Silicon Valley)
- Tulsa Opera
- University Musical Society (Ann Arbor, Michigan)
- University of California, Berkeley – Cal Performances
- University of California, Santa Barbara – Arts and Lectures
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- Utah Symphony – Utah Opera (Salt Lake City)
- Walker Art Center (Minneapolis, Minnesota)
- Westport Country Playhouse (Westport, Connecticut)
- The Whiting (Flint, Michigan)
- Wilma Theater (Philadelphia)
- Witte Museum (San Antonio, Texas)
- Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company (Washington, DC)
- Yale Repertory Theatre (New Haven, Connecticut)
- ZACH Theatre (Austin, Texas)
In Canada
In the UK
In Ireland
In Australia
In New Zealand
Notable former users
In the United States
In Canada
In the UK
Notes and References
- Ravanas. Phillippe. Company Profile: A Quiet Revolution: The Metropolitan Opera Reinvents Client Relations Management. International Journal of Arts Management. Spring 2007. 9. 3. 78–87. 41064943. HEC – Montréal – Chair of Arts Management.
- Web site: Hall . Cheryl . 2013-02-02 . Tiny Dallas company Tessitura provides technology platform to the stars . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130203101150/http://www.dallasnews.com/business/columnists/cheryl-hall/20130202-tiny-dallas-company-tessitura-provides-technology-platform-to-the-stars.ece . 2013-02-03 . 7 March 2014 . The Dallas Morning News.
- Web site: 2015-05-09 . Tessitura . https://web.archive.org/web/20150508024529/http://theticketinginstitute.com/tessitura . 2015-05-08 . 2015-05-09 . The Ticketing Institute .
- Web site: Donations through Spektrix grow almost 100% in a year. 22 July 2020 .
