8/28/2025

4 min

“We’re training the theatre managers of tomorrow, and Tessitura is a big piece of that.”

Janna Ellis, Director of the Yale Tessitura Consortium, explains that learning Tessitura gives Yale’s theatre management students a major advantage. They don’t just gain academic knowledge. They graduate with tangible skills that allow them to contribute meaningfully to professional arts and culture teams from day one.

The prestigious graduate program, offered through the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University, prepares future arts leaders through a combination of rigorous academics and hands-on training. Its goal is to launch professionals who can transition seamlessly into the field. The program relies on Tessitura to make that goal a reality.

Tessitura builds bridges across Yale

Tessitura is best known for bringing CRM, ticketing, fundraising, membership and more into a single, powerful platform. It also has the unique ability to support a consortium in which different organizations work together in a shared Tessitura environment.

Yale’s Tessitura consortium includes the two graduate schools for performing arts, David Geffen School of Drama (DGSD) and Yale School of Music, as well as the professional Yale Repertory Theatre. Each uses Tessitura to manage their own seasons of concerts, opera and theatre. They also use Tessitura to ticket events for related Yale organizations, such as the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival in northwest Connecticut. 

Exterior of Yale Repertory Theatre

Yale Repertory Theatre

Gold standard in arts and culture organizations

“At Yale, we prefer to use Tessitura because, honestly, there’s nothing else like it. There’s nothing else equal on the playing field for arts organizations,” shared Janna. For the School of Drama, Tessitura serves a role beyond the box office. As the industry standard in arts management technology, the technology platform is the system graduates are most likely to encounter in their careers. That’s why it’s embedded in the theatre management curriculum.

“I teach a class on Tessitura every year for our first-years. They continue learning Tessitura and Tessitura e-commerce throughout their three years in our program,” Janna explained. “They’ll use it in their classes and in their professional work assignments as well.”

Tessitura is essential because it teaches students how to approach real-world situations. The highly configurable system supports a multitude of scenarios. That makes it the perfect platform for Yale’s program.

“At Yale, we prefer to use Tessitura because, honestly, there’s nothing else like it. There’s nothing else equal on the playing field for arts organizations.”
— Janna Ellis, Director of the Yale Tessitura Consortium 

In many ways, Tessitura provides a shared language for the various departments in an arts institution. At Yale, it enables students to work collaboratively while building a platform fluency that will serve them long after they graduate.

Hands-on learning at the cabaret

Much of the theatre management curriculum provides a theoretical framework. Tessitura classes bridge the gap between theory and practice. Students learn how to segment audiences, build targeted campaigns and track patron engagement. They gain an understanding of how development, marketing and box office departments interact. And they learn how data about customer behavior can inform decision-making across all of them. "They understand the full story, the full scope of the patron. And they know they can get that out of Tessitura and use it,” Janna said.

The skills they learn go beyond technology. Using Tessitura helps students understand how arts organizations work. What membership or package structure will encourage audience loyalty? What email campaign will drive the most purchases?

Two actors pull two other actors on stage during a scene in The Inspector at Yale Repertory Theatre

The Inspector, newly adapted and directed by Yura Kordonsky. Yale Repertory Theatre. Photo by Joan Marcus.

Theatre management students put these learnings to the test. Their labs are the student-run Yale Cabaret and Yale Summer Cabaret. Alongside students in directing, acting and design, they create a season from the ground up. That includes producing, programming, ticketing, marketing, front-of-house operations and more.

Tessitura’s flexibility supports the wild creativity of student-led theatre. It allows them to map any configuration of their black box space, which often includes a mix of table and theatre seating. It enables them to create a new pricing scheme each season. Its rich CRM capabilities support targeted list-building for marketing campaigns.

“This is their own theatre. The sky’s the limit; their dreams come true. They run it the way they want to,” Janna explained. With Tessitura in their toolkit, students learn how to bring their imaginations to life.

“They understand the full story, the full scope of the patron. And they know they can get that out of Tessitura and use it.”
— Janna Ellis, Director of the Yale Tessitura Consortium 

Empowering future arts leaders

Learning Tessitura empowers students with the knowledge and resources they need to become arts and culture leaders. “It’s important that they learn as much as they can about Tessitura so when they go out, they can share it and use it in the organizations they want to work in,” Janna said.

The partnership has paid off. Alumni have gone on to leadership roles at major theatres, opera companies and performing arts centers. Graduates’ hands-on experience with Tessitura strengthens their ability to navigate complex systems with confidence. Students don’t just learn how to use Tessitura; they learn how technology helps them run a theatre.

By aligning academic training with professional realities, Yale sets a high standard for arts leadership education. Tessitura, as the trusted tool of the field, helps make that possible.

Photos courtesy of Yale Repertory Theatre.

 

Topics

Theatre

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Arts & Culture