In August 2022, we announced we would hold our Tessitura Learning & Community Conference (TLCC) in Orlando, Florida, in 2023. Tessitura, as a company, does not support Florida’s recent legislation that targets the LGBTQIA+ community and further harms all marginalized people. After our announcement, some of our community members challenged us to reconcile our decision to host a conference in Florida with our company’s DEAI commitment.

We regret our initial response to these expressions of concern. We should have listened more closely and responded with greater empathy and compassion. We apologize and recognize this opportunity for us to be better. We are taking the lessons we have learned from this process to heart.

It has been both challenging and rewarding to return to TLCC in person after the pandemic forced a three-year hiatus. In our initial planning, we thought our community might be reticent to come together in person for large gatherings. We therefore planned to hold TLCC only every two years. Early this year, our board and community gave us strong feedback about the critical importance of annual in-person TLCCs, and Orlando was the most favorable North American location available in 2023.

TLCC is an event that embraces and welcomes everyone’s full selves. We believe it is important to bring this atmosphere to Florida. We are sharing our specific plans to make TLCC a welcoming, inclusive and inspirational experience for all attendees here.

We acknowledge that not everyone agrees with our decision to host TLCC 2023 in Orlando. We understand that some of you may choose not to attend. You have expressed how much you love TLCC and are now faced with a painful decision. For this, too, we are sorry.

In these troubling and polarizing times, we hold fast to our vision that every human in every community we serve have arts and culture as a meaningful part of their life. TLCC is one way for us to come together to realize this vision.

TLCC means so much to our community, and for that we are grateful. We look forward to welcoming you in 2023.

Round headshot of Andrew Recinos  Andrew Recinos, President & CEO
Round headshot of Karyn Elliott  Karyn Elliott, Chief Member Officer