The Tennessee Performing Arts Center begins to sell its own tickets this month, concluding 29 years of sales through Ticketmaster as of July 1.
Customers can continue to purchase tickets for TPAC performances in ways they always have—online and at the box offices within the arts center and at Davis-Kidd Booksellers.
What’s new? TPAC is dedicating a telephone line to ticket sales and TPAC tickets will no longer be available through Ticketmaster outlets.
Ticketmaster has made a special arrangement to continue to sell tickets for TPAC events which are already on sale, including several concerts this summer and the Broadway tour Wicked, playing Nashville September 2-20.
“This is a business decision. The Tennessee Performing Arts Center greatly appreciates the dedicated service and support from Ticketmaster’s leadership and staff over the years. We enjoyed a great partnership over a time of tremendous change in the ways that people purchase tickets. We’ll miss Ticketmaster staff who worked closely with us,” said Brent Hyams, TPAC’s executive vice president and general manager.
“Especially with the dramatic increase in online ticket sales, it makes better business sense to sell tickets on our own system. The new model supports direct relationships between TPAC and its customers, who will pay less handling fees and communicate directly with our staff during transactions. On a number of levels, this system will be more efficient and cost-effective for TPAC and its customers with software which was designed specifically for performing arts centers and has been customized for our operations,” he said.
TPAC's New Look:
The following performances at TPAC are now on sale through Ticketmaster and can be purchased on-line, by telephone, calling 615-255-ARTS (2787), and at the TPAC box offices, downtown and Davis-Kidd Booksellers in The Mall at Green Hills: Les Claypool, July 6; Sonic Youth, July 11; The Dead Weather, July 30; Tommy Emmanuel, July 31; the Nashville Public Radio broadcast of Says You, August 22 and 23; Mike Birbiglia, September 17; and Wicked, September 2-20.
All other future performances will be sold only through TPAC, which began using the new system for season ticket and group sales in April.
From July 1 until July 15, TPAC’s call center will be taking orders by telephone at 615-782-4040 from 9 am to 5 pm, Monday through Friday. On July 16, the hours of operation for this phone center will expand to 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., daily. Through the transition, both Ticketmaster and TPAC staff will redirect customers as needed.
“Our web site – tpac.org—links customers straight from our calendar to the point of ticket purchase, whether that’s Ticketmaster or our new system. The web site also contains information on how, where, and when tickets can be purchased. It’s the best source for TPAC information, from browsing the site to signing up for RSS feeds and e mail bulletins,” said Hyams, noting that on-line purchases accounted for over 50% of TPAC sales this year.
TPAC box office hours will not change. The box office within TPAC is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday and 90 minutes prior to any public performance. The box office located in the lower level of Davis-Kidd is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday and from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday.
TPAC’s four distinctly different theaters are home to three resident groups, Nashville Ballet, Nashville Opera, and Tennessee Repertory Theatre. TPAC presents an annual season of “HCA-TriStar Broadway at TPAC” and special engagements, while serving a wide variety of rental clients who use the diverse, multi-purpose space in the facility for concerts, comedy acts, receptions, recitals, corporate functions, and other events. TPAC also administers one of the most comprehensive arts education programs in the United States.
