“Community is why we exist. ... As an executive told me a few months ago, ‘The best thing about Tessitura is that you are us and we are you.’”

Tessitura CEO Andrew Recinos recently sat down with Damian Bazadona, president and founder of Situation Group, for the latter’s new Muse by Clio interview series, “Building Passionate Communities.” The two discussed the transformation of the arts and culture industry over the past two years, as well as Tessitura’s recent leadership transition. 

During their conversation, Andrew discussed:

The importance of listening

“On average, once a day I speak to a leader of a cultural organization that is part of the Tessitura community. … I can’t imagine doing this job without that daily touchpoint. It informs every decision I make, from technology direction to service offerings to our messaging.”

Challenges faced by arts and culture leaders

“This time has become a moment of deep soul searching. The combination of the enforced pause and the existential nature of this crisis led many in our sector to turn inward and examine the ‘why’ of their organization’s work.”

Channeling despair into innovation during the pandemic

“Our engineering team quickly figured out that they could develop functionality that would present all refunding ticket buyers with a friendly option to donate or hold their money, rather than refunding it. … That one utility allowed Tessitura organizations to retain more than $20 million in contributed revenue. That was our first feature created in response to the pandemic. We would ultimately put out more than 40 others during the lockdown.”

A vision for arts and culture communities

“My greatest hope is that the energy that has been unleashed around equity will remove barriers and lead us to a place where arts and culture is a meaningful part of every life.”

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Read the full interview on the Muse by Clio website.

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Top photo by Note Thanun on Unsplash.