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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'.

• 3Notable users

History and business model[edit]

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.^[1]

This model has resulted in several characteristics for Tessitura Network as a software company.

• It has a high degree of user commitment and involvement in the community of users, including groups of local users who meet regularly in areas with large concentrations of Tessitura users, and an annual conference attended by thousands of users.
• A strong emphasis within the company on direct business involvement–most of the company staff are ex-employees of licensees, and almost all come from an arts management background, rather than an information technology background^{[citation needed]}
• The strong involvement of users in the company, and the direct linking of maintenance fees to expenditures under licensee control, has enabled the company to run efficiently. For example, the contractual commitment of taking each upgrade within a 90-day window puts a substantial limit on the costs of supporting old versions, which would be difficult to sustain in a conventional usual business model.^{[citation needed]}

System functionality[edit]

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[edit]

In the United States[edit]

• 5th Avenue Theatre (Seattle)
• 92nd Street Y (New York City)
• Academy of Vocal Arts (Philadelphia)
• ACT Theatre (Seattle)
• Arena Stage (Washington, D.C.)
• Arizona Science Center (Phoenix, Arizona)
• Asolo Repertory Theatre (Sarasota, Florida)
• AT&T Performing Arts Center (Dallas)
• Austin Opera (Austin, Texas)
• Austin Symphony Orchestra (Austin, Texas)
• Ballet Austin (Austin, Texas)
• Center Theatre Group (Los Angeles)
• Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum (New York)
• Georgia Aquarium (Atlanta)
• Goodman Theatre (Chicago)
• Guthrie Theater (Minneapolis)
• High Museum of Art (Atlanta)
• Ithaca College (Ithaca, New York)

James Museum of Western and Wildlife Art (St. Petersburg, FL)

• Jazz at Lincoln Center (New York)
• Kaufman Music Center (New York City)
• McCarter Theatre (Princeton, New Jersey)
• Minnesota Zoo (Apple Valley, Minnesota)^[4]
• Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City)
• Metropolitan Opera (New York City)
• The Metropolitan Opera Guild (New York)
• Mondavi Center (Davis, California)
• Nashville Opera (Nashville, Tennessee)
• National Geographic Museum (Washington, D.C.)
• New Victory Theater (New York City)
• New York Philharmonic (New York City)
• Perot Museum of Nature and Science (Dallas)
• Portland Center Stage (Oregon)
• Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts (Annandale-on-Hudson, New York)
• Ruth Eckerd Hall (Clearwater, Florida)
• SFJAZZ (San Francisco)
• 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)
• Steppenwolf Theatre Company (Chicago)
• Tennessee Performing Arts Center (Nashville, Tennessee)
• Texas Ballet Theater (Fort Worth)
• University Musical Society (Ann Arbor, Michigan)
• University of California, Berkeley – Cal Performances
• University of California, Santa Barbara – Arts and Lectures
• Utah Symphony – Utah Opera (Salt Lake City)
• Westport Country Playhouse (Westport, Connecticut)
• The Whiting (Flint, Michigan)
• Witte Museum (San Antonio, Texas)
• Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company (Washington, DC)
• Yale Repertory Theatre (New Haven, Connecticut)

In Canada[edit]

• Aga Khan Museum (Toronto, Ontario)
• Alberta Theatre Projects (Calgary, Alberta)
• Arts Club Theatre Company (Vancouver, British Columbia)
• Harbourfront Centre (Toronto, Ontario)
• National Ballet of Canada (Toronto, Ontario)
• Science North (Sudbury, Ontario)
• Shaw Festival (Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario)

In the UK[edit]

• Almeida Theatre (London)
• BBC National Orchestra of Wales (Cardiff)
• Birmingham Hippodrome (The UK's busiest theatre)
• Donmar Warehouse (London)
• The Hallé (Manchester)
• The Mayflower (Southampton)
• Opera Holland Park (London)
• The Old Vic (London)
• The Roundhouse (London)
• The Royal & Derngate (Northampton)
• Royal Albert Hall (London)
• Royal National Theatre (London)
• Royal Opera House (London)
• Royal Shakespeare Company (Stratford-upon-Avon)
• Southbank Centre (London)
• Theatre by the Lake (Keswick)
• Wales Millennium Centre (Cardiff)
• Wigmore Hall (London)
• Young Vic Company (London)

In Ireland[edit]

• Abbey Theatre (Dublin)

In Australia[edit]

• The Australian Ballet (Melbourne)
• Australian Brandenburg Orchestra (Sydney)
• Australian Centre for the Moving Image (Melbourne)
• Opera Australia (Sydney)

In New Zealand[edit]

• The Edge Performing Arts & Convention Centre (Auckland)

References[edit]

1. ^ ^abRavanas, Phillippe (Spring 2007). 'Company Profile: A Quiet Revolution: The Metropolitan Opera Reinvents Client Relations Management'. International Journal of Arts Management. HEC – Montréal – Chair of Arts Management. 9 (3): 78–87. JSTOR41064943.
2. ^'Tiny Dallas company Tessitura provides technology platform to the stars'. Retrieved 7 March 2014.
3. ^'Tessitura'. The Ticketing Institute. 2015-05-09. Retrieved 2015-05-09.
4. ^'Minnesota Zoo Upgrades to Tessitura'. Minnesota Zoo. 2016-01-19. Retrieved 2019-04-14.

External links[edit]

• Tessitura's channel on YouTube