Policies and Procedures

Questions?

Audience Information

Target Audience
Global Arts: Performances for Schools are designed for school classes and home school groups. Unless specifically stated, our performances are selected for children of school age. All children, regardless of age, must have a paid seat. Please refer to the grade level guidelines to help determine the appropriateness of a performance for your group.
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Ticket Prices
Admission fee is per student with one complimentary teacher/chaperone admission for every 15 student tickets purchased. Additional chaperones pay the listed adult admission price. Special needs student groups are offered one complimentary chaperone admission for every 5 paid students.

Our primary goal is to provide cultural experiences for student audiences. Please purchase only the number of chaperone tickets required by your school. Additional adults decrease the number of seats available to children.
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Home School Groups
The performances are offered to home school families under the same policies as public and private school groups. Seats must be paid for at time of booking. Children should be of school age unless a program is advertised for Pre-school audiences. Every child, regardless of age, must have a paid seat.
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General Public
Due to the demand for tickets from our school groups, we are unable to offer these performances to the general public. Many of these performances are also available in our evening series. Children's tickets for the evening Center Series performances are just $12 or $15 depending upon performance.

In the rare event that a school performance is not sold-out, tickets will be made available to the general public two (2) weeks prior to the performance. Please call the main box office at (413) 545-2511 or 1-800-999-UMAS (8627). Tickets will not be made available for programs that have an evening performance option.
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Reservation Information

Reservations
Since most shows sell-out, we recommend booking as far in advance as possible. For school and home school reservations, please call (413) 545-2116. Your reservations will be confirmed in writing within two (2) weeks. We understand that class size is often approximate at the time of reservation. Each confirmation notice includes a deadline by which we must be informed of any changes in reservation numbers (no significant increases, please). This is your only opportunity to make changes in your reservation. After the deadline, your school is committed to purchasing the number of seats indicated on your reservation confirmation. We are unable to resell reserved seats after that time. These numbers are final.

When calling to place your order please be prepared to provide the following information:
1. Name, address and phone number of the school
2. Teacher contact and billing information
3. Number of students and teachers/chaperones
4. Number of adults (includes teachers and chaperones)
5. Grade level(s) of students
6. Any accessibility services required
7. Number of buses that will be used
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Payments
Payment is nonrefundable and may be made by check (one per reservation), credit card or purchase order. We cannot process online credit card payments at this time. However, we are able to take credit card payments over the phone or you may print out our downloadable order form to fax or mail that to us with your credit card information. All payments or copies of purchase orders must be received two weeks prior to the performance and made payable to the University of Massachusetts.
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Refunds
Refunds will be honored only if a performance is canceled by the Fine Arts Center or if your school is closed due to inclement weather. Should a cancellation occur, a staff person will call you the next school day to inform you of alternate plans.

No refunds will be issued for unused seats on the day of performance or for a reduction, or cancellation of, your reservation after the listed deadline. Please see "Reservations" for information regarding changes in your reservation.
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PASS Grant Funding
All events are eligible for the Performing Arts Student Subsidy (PASS) Program. PASS grants are available to both public and private schools. The PASS Program funds cultural field trips for children grades Pre-K through 12, by subsidizing the cost of admission to attend programs in the arts, humanities and interpretive sciences. The PASS Program is administered by the local cultural council in your community and the Massachusetts Cultural Council. The deadline for PASS applications is October 15th of each year. For more information on the PASS Program, please contact your local cultural council or the Mass. Cultural Council at 1-800-232-0960. You may also visit the MCC web site at www.massculturalcouncil.org.
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Study Guides
Invoices, directions and a study guide are mailed one month prior to performance. You may photocopy the study guide for use in the classroom or download from the resource page on the web. The study guides provide useful information regarding the performance and ways in which to integrate the performance into your classroom curriculum both prior to and following the theatre experience.
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Theater Information

Location
Performances take place in The Fine Arts Center Concert Hall or Bowker Auditorium in Stockbridge Hall on the University of Massachusetts campus.
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Arrival Time
Please plan to arrive thirty (30) minutes prior to the performance. This will allow our ushers to seat everyone and for you and your students to visit the restrooms and get settled. It is important that we begin our performances on time so that all schools can meet their lunch and/or school dismissal times.

Performances, unless otherwise noted, begin at 10 a.m. and run for approximately one hour.
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Seating and Dismissals
There are no printed tickets for these performances. Upon your arrival please identify your group to an usher or the House Manager in the lobby. An usher will lead your group to its assigned seats according to the seating chart. If you would like to know where your seats are located you may call the office at (413) 545-2116 one week prior to performance.

We cannot guarantee your seat location based solely upon your reservation date. It is our priority to provide services for students with special needs.

At the conclusion of the performance please remain in your seats. A staff member will dismiss each school. Small groups (30 and under) traveling by cars may exit at any time following the performance.
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Directions
From the North: (Vermont, Greenfield) I-91 south to Route 116. Follow signs on 116 "To the University of Massachusetts." Exit ramp leads to Massachusetts Avenue. Turn left (east) on to Massachusetts Avenue toward the campus. For the Concert Hall: continue through one light and watch for Lot 34 by the Visitors Center on your right and the entrance to Haigis Mall on your left.

For Bowker Auditorium: turn left at first light on to Commonwealth Avenue. Follow signs for the Parking Garage.
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From the South: (Springfield, Holyoke) I-91 north to Route 9. East on Route 9 over the Coolidge Bridge and through Hadley. Left at Route 116 (across from Staples) heading north toward campus. Right at first exit at "University of Massachusetts" bear right onto Massachusetts Avenue toward campus. For the Concert Hall: continue through two lights (the first one is flashing) and watch for Lot 34 by the Visitors Center on your right and the entrance to Haigis Mall on your left.

For Bowker Auditorium: turn left at second light (the first one is flashing) onto Commonwealth Avenue. Follow signs for the Parking Garage.
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From the West: (Northampton, Pittsfield) Route 9 east through Northampton and over Coolidge Bridge. Follow remaining directions from "From the South" above.
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From the East: (Belchertown, Ludlow) North on Routes 21, 181 or 202 to Route 9 into Amherst. Right on to North Pleasant Street (main downtown intersection), north through center of town. Turn left at Triangle Street (Bertucci's Restaurant on your right), rejoining North Pleasant Street. For Concert Hall: to reach Lot 34 and Haigis Mall continue on main road which becomes Massachusetts Avenue. Haigis Mall will be on your right, Lot 34 on your left.

For Bowker Auditorium: continue on Massachusetts Avenue down the hill. Turn right at the next light on to Commonwealth Avenue. Follow signs for the Parking Garage.
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Parking Information
School Buses

<<Campus Map>>

Concert Hall: Students should be dropped-off at Haigis Mall off of Massachusetts Avenue.
Bowker Auditorium: Students should be dropped-off behind Stockbridge Hall which is accessed via the road to the Campus Center Parking Garage off of Commonwealth Avenue.

University Security will direct buses to an appropriate parking lot during the performance (typically by the football stadium). PLEASE BE SURE YOUR BUS DRIVER KNOWS THAT PERFORMANCES LAST APPROXIMATELY 1 HOUR AND THEY SHOULD RETURN A FEW MINUTES BEFORE THE ANTICIPATED END TIME. If drivers are not with the buses, they may miss the radio call from security asking them to return for pick-up, resulting in unnecessary delays returning to your school.
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Cars

<<Campus Map>>

Concert Hall: If necessary, individuals may drop-off students with a chaperone at Haigis Mall (you will be directed by security to the mid-point turn of Haigis Mall prior to parking). Parking is available at meters behind the Robsham Visitors Center on Massachusetts Avenue or in the Parking Garage located off of Commonwealth Avenue.

Bowker Auditorium: Please park in the garage which is located next to Stockbridge Hall and Bowker Auditorium.
Available parking lots and pricing (current as of 10/02):
Parking meters are enforced Monday - Friday, 9AM - 5PM. Meter rates are $1.00 per hour. The Garage is $1.50 per hour, with a day maximum of $20.00

Parking Garage - near Campus Center, across from the Mullins Center off Commonwealth Avenue. (For Concert Hall and Bowker performances)
Lot 34 - Adjacent to Visitors Center (For Concert Hall performances)
Haigis Mall - 2 hour maximum on meters (For Concert Hall performances)
Lot 62 - Adjacent to Fernald Hall with 3 hour maximum on meters (For Concert Hall performances)
Lot 65 - On north side of Stockbridge Hall (Handicap parking ONLY for Bowker performances)

For more information please go to:
VisitorParking
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Patron Accessibility
Both performance halls are wheelchair accessible and equipped with an Infrared Listening System to assist with sound amplification and clarity. Please let us know your special needs when making your reservations.

There is an elevator located on the south side of the Concert Hall. An accessible parking lot is located on the Fine Arts Center plaza directly in front of the elevator entrance. Bowker Auditorium may be accessed by a wheelchair ramp located on the south side of the building. Limited parking is available at the end of the ramp, in the garage or in Lot 65.
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Food and Beverages
No gum, food, beverages, recording devices, or portable music players are allowed in the auditoriums. With the large number of students and the restrictions of the lobby area, we are not able to accommodate boxes of student lunches or any other gear. For the comfort of all concerned, we ask that backpacks, lunches and other gear remain on the bus.
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Questions?
Please call (413) 545.2116.
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