In August 2024, Opera Philadelphia took a bold risk.

They launched the Pick Your Price initiative, allowing guests to pay as little as $11 for any seat in the house. It opened the world of opera to people who may not have been able to afford tickets previously. Conceived by general director Anthony Roth Costanzo, the audacious step aimed to spark momentum. (Hear more about it in this talk by Tessitura President and CEO Andrew Recinos.) This ticketing program is the first of its kind initiated by a major American opera company.  

A big change builds energy

“It’s a groundbreaking change to the whole opera industry,” said Michael Knight, Director of Guest Services for Opera Philadelphia. “It’s pick your seat, pick your price. The energy has been palpable. The audience is great. We’re getting a lot of new people, and 67% of participants have never been in our building before.”  

Michael said those guests are likely not only to return to Opera Philadelphia, but also to support other productions at its venue, the Academy of Music. 

One system for the entire purchase journey

Michael supports the opera’s ticketing and front-of-house operations using Tessitura and its e-commerce solution, TNEW. Tessitura powers the purchase path for every ticket. 

“It’s integral. It really is the basis of the business,” Michael said. “Having everyone on the same page and having one system of record is very important — as is being able to see the whole journey.”

“[Tessitura v16] adds a lot of new functionality, a lot of quality-of-life improvements,” Michael said. “Being able to search in a lot of places you never could before is really great.” 

“[Tessitura v16] adds a lot of new functionality, a lot of quality-of-life improvements.”

Implementing the Pick Your Price initiative

After hearing about this wild idea, Michael’s team had just two months to launch the Pick Your Price program in time for the 2024–2025 season. “The turnaround time was quite swift,” he said. “But ultimately, we were able to do the majority of it with out-of-the-box Tessitura functionality.”    

Michael’s team added more price types for each seat. This gave guests multiple options while also “presenting the standard price in line so they’ll know the true value of the ticket,” he said.

When a guest visits the Opera Philadelphia website to purchase their ticket, each seat shows multiple prices, with $11 as the minimum. Guests can choose to pay more to support the organization. 

During checkout, guests are also prompted to round up their total as a donation. Many guests who chose the $11 ticket have added a gift of $3–$5. In the second year of the program, Michael reported, more guests are choosing to pay a higher ticket price.

“The turnaround time was quite swift. But ultimately, we were able to do the majority of it with out-of-the-box Tessitura functionality.”

“Using that round-up component on the checkout page is really helpful,” Michael noted. “We’re seeing increased philanthropy on that end from people giving just a little bit here, a little bit there. It’s really heartening to see that people understand. And being able to use the Tessitura system that way is really great because it just works.”

New audiences invigorate the opera

Since Opera Philadelphia anticipated the Pick Your Price program would bring in new people, they wanted to expand how they used the space at the Academy of Music. The venue has a ballroom where Opera Philadelphia holds its donor receptions. 

“Instead of standing in the lobby, waiting for the door to open, we’re like, Let’s use this space. Let’s open the doors. Let’s show people a place they’re not usually able to go,” Michael shared. “We started doing a little happy hour up there.”

Guests can listen to a live pianist and order drinks, then attend the preshow talk. This format allows guests to add to the overall experience.

Pick Your Price has successfully helped expand Opera Philadelphia’s audience. “The $11 [price] is a good hook, but the journey is different for each person. We’ve seen first-time people in their 20s. We’ve seen fathers and kids and mothers,” Michael said. “And I’m really happy to see that some of our programming in the future is going to be a little bit more varied in some ways. We’ll have some offerings that aren’t specifically for the adults or for a certain audience. It’s really opening it up.”

“The ushers love seeing the vibrancy, because you don’t want an empty house,” he continued. “We do this for the people, and performers don’t want to perform to empty houses. So that’s the energy that we talk about. People are appreciative.”

“The energy has been palpable. The audience is great. We’re getting a lot of new people, and 67% of participants have never been in our building before.”

Using analytics to measure success

Tessitura Analytics has been an essential tool to measure ticket sales and track trends. Jeff Mason, Opera Philadelphia’s Guest Services Manager, has worked with the opera’s fundraising and marketing teams to convert reports from a previous system into Tessitura Analytics. 

Data sharing is easy with Tessitura. Two dashboards are emailed weekly to Opera Philadelphia’s executive team: one for Opera Pass subscription sales and Pick Your Price, and one for general season sales.

A winning relationship with Tessitura

As a long-time member, Opera Philadelphia has built deep trust in Tessitura and its team. “I think having the existing relationship with Tessitura is what really made Pick Your Price possible because I was able to reach out and have that quick response,” Michael said. “I don’t know [that] it would be possible without it, because you have TNEW layered on top of the ticketing and the giving component. That’s hitting every area of the software. And we have a digital app for delivery, [allowing for] mobile tickets now.”

All those elements contribute to a seamless customer journey, from the online ticket purchase to the vibrant night-of-event experience.

“Having the existing relationship with Tessitura is what really made Pick Your Price possible.”

Michael also appreciates the warmth of the Tessitura community, especially the idea-sharing at the Tessitura Learning and Community Conference (TLCC). “I’ve never heard of another software [company] having a great conference or community like this. That is the thing that I think is the rock,” he said. 

Top photo: Anthony Roth Costanzo as The Poet in The Seasons. Photo by Nile Scott Studio.

Photos courtesy of Opera Philadelphia.