Texas Performing Arts and Fusebox announce a new programming partnership that will bring a slate of fresh and unexpected creative performances to the Austin community.
The partnership will begin in Texas Performing Arts’ 2023-24 season, which will feature several collaborative performances throughout the fall, winter, and spring. In addition, the 2024 Fusebox festival will include a series of performances produced by Texas Performing Arts.
“We are thrilled to embark on this new partnership with Fusebox,” said Bob Bursey, Executive & Artistic Director of Texas Performing Arts. “It will allow us to combine forces to create more adventurous art experiences in Austin and support artists making daring, imaginative, and inspiring work.”
Ron Berry, Executive & Co-Artistic Director of Fusebox added: “This extraordinary partnership marks the beginning of a new chapter for Fusebox, building upon our 19-year history of sharing unique live performances. In the past this has primarily happened through our festival in April. But as Austin continues to grow, it has become apparent that Fusebox needs to grow as well. This new collaboration will allow us to share more remarkable artists with thousands of more people throughout the year, and TPA is the perfect partner.”
The partnership will feature vivid live performances that span music, theatre, dance, and film—reflecting the boundary-less, unique experiences Texas Performing Arts and Fusebox have created through past collaborations such as Robin Frohardt’s critically acclaimed The Plastic Bag Store (2021).
The connection initially grew out of a collaboration between the two organizations that helped to establish Texas Performing Arts’ resident artist program developed during the pandemic—a vital resource that provides funding, stage time, and technical and administrative support to artists. This new fusion will expand that work beyond campus while also offering new opportunities for UT Austin students to engage with Fusebox through internships, artist connections, and coursework.
As part of the move to year-round programming, Fusebox’s annual festival will become biennial following its 20th anniversary edition in spring 2024. This shift will allow for deeper development of new works, longer-term relationships with artists, and planning of larger scale works. The new biennial festival will continue to take place at sites and venues across the city in 2026 and beyond.
Specific programming will be announced on April 25 when Texas Performing Arts unveils its 2023-24 Season, including the artists and productions that are part of the TPA-Fusebox partnership.
The 2023 Fusebox Festival will take place April 12-16.
