Texas Performing Arts

Specialties

Situated on the main campus of one of the largest and most prestigious research universities in the country, Texas Performing Arts serves The University of Texas at Austin campus and the Austin community at large through a diverse season of world-​class performances.

History

Established in 1981.

Our rich history began on March 6, 1981 as The Performing Arts Center at The University of Texas at Austin, with a performance by the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in the newly constructed Bass Concert Hall. The $ 44 million building was The University of Texas’ largest construction project to date. Later joined by four other venues including Bates Recital Hall, and the McCullough, Payne, and Brockett Theatres Texas Performing Arts has become one of the most important contributors of cultural life in Central Texas.

Each year, Texas Performing Arts offers a diverse season of music, theatre, dance, and conversation, and during the past 30 years has presented such world-​class artists as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Victor Borge, Nina Simone, Ornette Coleman, Van Morrison, Philip Glass, Ella Fitzgerald, and The English National Opera. We are also the proud home of Broadway Across America-​Austin.