"The Performing Arts Center is an important cultural asset for Texas. It touches the lives of people across the state through its remarkable performance schedule, its public school outreach programs, and its role as a teaching resource for higher education."

- Larry Faulkner
President
The University of Texas at Austin

In 1981, the curtain rose on the new Bass Concert Hall in Austin. Located on the campus of the University of Texas, this grand performance hall was heralded as the flagship theatre of the university's Performing Arts Center (PAC). Complemented by five other theatres, each designed to accommodate a wide range of artistic disciplines; Bass Concert Hall opened the door for a greater diversity and higher caliber of artists from around the world to perform in the Capital City.

The PAC has also presented the university's College of Fine Arts (COFA) students with the opportunity to work alongside professionals in the performing arts field as a way of enhancing their education with hands-on experience. In addition, it has opened the doors of the university to the Central Texas community, by offering opportunities to join in the creative process through outreach programs for all ages.

"While an eclectic programming schedule opens the eyes and minds of students from across Texas and beyond, the opportunities provided by the PAC for hands-on learning are an invaluable part of a Texas fine arts education."

Robert Freeman
Dean of the College of Fine Arts
The University of Texas at Austin

For more than twenty years, the UT Performing Arts Center has enriched the lives of Central Texans. It has contributed to the growth of Austin as an artistic capital, by providing a focal point for creative professionals and granting reduced rental rates to various civic arts groups, including the Austin Lyric Opera, Ballet Austin, and the Austin Symphony. The PAC's partnership with the blockbuster producers of "Broadway in Austin" has allowed the center to provide a home for many artists that would otherwise be wanting for a suitable venue.

"Austin is blessed with a beautiful landscape, but the artistic temperament of its people is one of the hidden ingredients that keeps so many travelers returning to our city. The PAC has enhanced the lives of Texans in ways that are impossible to measure."

Pebbles Wadsworth
Director
The University of Texas Performing Arts Center

Ever since Pebbles Wadsworth took the helm as Director in 1992, the UT Performing Arts Center has expanded its program to include a truly diverse offering of cultural art forms from around the globe. Guided by Wadsworth's vision and spirited leadership, the PAC has developed programs that help foster admiration and respect for world cultures.

BASS CONCERT HALL
Completed in 1981, this flagship theatre of the Performing Arts Center is the largest in Austin, with seating for 2,800. The Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Concert Hall boasts a vast stage, an orchestra pit capable of holding 100 musicians, dressing rooms to accommodate more than 100 performers, computerized lighting, advanced sound and rigging systems, and a mammoth backstage area complete with workshops for carpentry, costumes, painting, metalwork and props. Ranking among the finest performance spaces in the country both in size and accoutrements, it is no wonder that Bass Concert Hall attracts the world's greatest performers and full-scale productions.

HOGG AUDITORIUM
Constructed in 1933, Hogg Auditorium was the very first theatre at the University of Texas at Austin. For years, this auditorium was the main source of culture on campus. With seating for 1,200, Hogg Auditorium is a charming mid-sized venue that offers a close proximity between the stage and the audience. Although fully operative now, the PAC plans to restore and renovate this historic landmark theatre in order to preserve this cultural treasure for years to come.

BATES RECITAL HALL
Specially designed for its excellent acoustics, Bates Recital Hall is a 700-seat venue that is capable of hosting everything from symphony orchestras, major choral presentations and concert bands to ensembles and solo recitals. The hall also houses the country's largest tracker organ. Based on an 18th century Dutch design, the Visser-Rowland organ is three stories tall, weighs 24 tons and has 5,315 pipes. Bates Recital Hall serves both performances by professional visiting musicians and recitals by UT students and faculty members.

B. IDEN PAYNE THEATRE
The 500-seat B. Iden Payne Theatre provides the perfect setting for plays and dance performances, allowing audiences a close-up look at the action on stage. This facility not only stages productions by internationally celebrated theatre companies and dance troupes, but also productions by students of the UT Department of Theatre & Dance.

McCULLOUGH THEATRE
Located adjacent to Bass Concert Hall, the McCullough Theatre features 400 seats, a 30-foot proscenium stage and an orchestra pit equipped for 35 musicians. Host to UT Opera student productions and other PAC events, this versatile space accommodates chamber music, opera, drama, dance, solo recitals and more. The cozy lobby of the theatre is also the site of many Arts After Hours functions, where young professionals and PAC patrons gather after events to share cocktails and discuss the evening's entertainment.

OSCAR G. BROCKETT THEATRE
The recently named Oscar G. Brockett Theatre is an intimate setting of 200 seats. Utilized most frequently for student productions of the Department of Theatre & Dance, this theatre helps develop budding new talent into experienced performers as part of the PAC's educational mission.