The Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts already offers discounts to faculty and staff. Now they are getting another perk: a head start on buying single-event tickets for the 2008-09 season.

Single-event sales to the general public begin Aug. 25. Faculty and staff can make their purchases early, Aug. 20 through 23.

"This is a chance for faculty and staff to get ahead of the rush," said Joe Martin, the center's public relations manager.

Faculty and staff also receive a 10 percent discount on single-event tickets. And this year, Martin reminded, the discount applies to all three ticket levels -- meaning you can sit anywhere in the house and still get your faculty-staff discount.

Single-event tickets are for people who for whatever reason do not buy series subscriptions or choose-your-own plans of five or more events, but who still would like to attend a show or two, or listen to one of the season's distinguished speakers.

Performers include violinist Itzhak Perlman; baritone Thomas Hampson; sitar-playing father and daughter Ravi and Anoushka Shankar; pianist-composer Philip Glass, presenting an evening of chamber music; the Vienna Boys Choir; the Ladysmith Black Mambazo a cappella ensemble; fiddler Natalie MacMaster; singers Mavis Staples and Linda Ronstadt; jazz artist Delfeayo Marsalis; and New York City's Vanguard Jazz Orchestra.

Laurie Anderson presents Homeland, part epic poem and part concert; Christopher Taylor plays the two-hour-plus piano work, Vingt Regards sur L'enfant-Jesus, by Olivier Messiaen; and Opera a la Carte presents Gilbert and Sullivan's The Gondoliers.

Several programs feature the works of Bach and Beethoven, and the Mondavi Center also has planned a Season of Shakespeare, including Hamlet and Rick Miller's one-man comedy, MacHomer, in which the Simpsons of television fame meet MacBeth.

The season also includes dancing from Mexico, Africa and Argentina; and Cinderella by the State Ballet Theatre of Russia.

Family programs include The Velveteen Rabbit, the Fred Garbo Inflatable Theater Co., Cirque Eloize and Scrap Arts Music.

The Distinguished Speakers Series comprises U.S. Supreme Court scholar Jeffrey Toobin, with a talk tailored for the UC Davis Centennial during the Fall Festival; diplomat and former Sen. George Mitchell; feminist leader and political activist Gloria Steinem; former "child soldier" Ishmael Beah from Sierra Leone; Academy Award-winning writer Paul Haggis (Crash); and Campus Community Book Project author and Pulitzer Prize winner Tracy Kidder.

Beware, though, tickets may not be available for all high-priority events. This is because all the available tickets for such events may have been claimed during the subscription sales period, which began March 31.

For example, Martin said, the one-night-only concert by cellist Yo-Yo Ma is sold out, except for a bloc of tickets set aside for purchase by students after they arrive for the fall quarter.

Martin also reported limited availability as of Aug. 15 for four orchestra events (by the Jerusalem, Munich, Estonian National and San Francisco symphonies).

As is common at performing arts centers, the Mondavi Center gives ticket-buying priority to new and returning subscribers. Faculty and staff get the same priority, plus a 30 percent discount on series subscriptions, and 25 percent on choose-your-own plans and add-on events.

Subscriptions are still available, but as the Oct. 4 season opening draws near, the center is ready to start selling tickets on an individual basis.

MONDAVI CENTER TICKETS

Single-event tickets go on sale Aug. 25 to the general public, and Aug. 20 to faculty and staff.

The early sales period for faculty and staff runs from Wednesday through Saturday, Aug. 20-23.

Faculty and staff ticket purchases during this early sales period must be made in person or by telephone; you must have a UC Davis e-mail address.

Box office hours: Noon-6 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

Telephone: (530) 754-2787 or (866) 754-2787.

Starting Aug. 25, single-event tickets will be available to everyone, including faculty and staff. And, as of Aug. 25, tickets will be sold online (mondaviarts.org) as well as in person and by telephone.

Complete listing of the Mondavi Center's 2008-09 season: mondaviarts.org/events.