Tacoma’s ‘piano in the sky’ to remain on roof of building serving a new musical purpose
For a familiar Tacoma Avenue property, it’s not as much about what’s being added, but what will remain.
A nonprofit tied to Ted Brown Music is set to make use of the former Clinton’s Music House site, 2301 Tacoma Ave. S., in Tacoma.
It will serve as a home to its nonprofit music outreach and therapy program, and a landmark feature at the building will remain on its roof.
“The piano will stay,” said Christopher Uebelhor, executive director of Ted Brown Music Outreach. “That’s part of the refurbishment. And it will light up again and be repainted.”
“It’s nice the way this has worked out for this little music store to be acquired and used for music purposes,” he added.
What’s planned
Preliminary plans include turning the now-empty space into rehearsal rooms, classrooms, a music lounge and a stage near the brick-outlined gas fireplace located on the back wall, an unusual feature in a strip-mall retail setting.
Additional space next door is set to be leased to On Blended Knee Winery for a wine-tasting room.
But the bulk of the space will allow musicians and participants of all talent levels to experience various programs offered by the nonprofit.
According to the plans submitted to the city in its tenant-improvement information, the outreach program will hold music-therapy sessions that could include anywhere from two to more than 10 people.
During the summer, the outreach program includes students divided into bands of four-to-five with a mentor and will use rehearsal rooms planned for the site.
The project’s value was estimated at $850,000, according to the application.
Two music family businesses
Clinton’s was launched in 1898 by Frank T. Clinton, who sold pianos door-to-door via horse-drawn wagon, according to the brand’s history page online. Clinton’s was incorporated in 1910 in Tacoma, and the Tacoma Avenue store was established in the early 1960s.
Another Clinton’s Music House still operates in Olympia, while the Tacoma store closed years ago, with the property seeing different owners in the following years.
Enter the Ted Brown family.
Ted Brown opened his first store in downtown Tacoma in 1931. Granddaughters Whitney Brown Grisaffi and Stephanie Brown Howe are now company president and vice president, respectively.
A company-affiliated LLC acquired the former Clinton property last summer. The purchase price was $1.75 million, according to Pierce County sales records, and the extensive remodeling project is now making its way through permitting.
Ted Brown Music Outreach program is a nonprofit that was set up in 2007 as a way to make use of old band instruments, Uebelhor told The News Tribune in a recent interview.
The business sought to make use of donated instruments or those left at the store because the instruments’ owners didn’t want to pay for repairs, Uebelhor said.
Stephanie Howe “wanted to do more do stuff for the community,” said Uebelhor. “What she started doing was getting the store to repair those instruments into working order and ready to go. And then the nonprofit would distribute those to students across pretty much anywhere in the state, so they have a free instrument, with no obligation to return or rent it.”
“We give out 150 to 200 instruments a year through that instrument-outreach program,” he said, to qualifying students in free/reduced lunch programs. “And then the summer camps have grown.”
He described those as “instrument exploration camps, which are one-week camps, half a day, for younger kids, those in grades 4-6. They can try out all brass instruments one week, and another week all stringed instruments,” as well as keyboard and percussion.
Other programs include Jazz Improv and Live It OutLoud, an 8-week summer music program for ages 12 to 18. The students are evaluated and placed with other musicians. They then form a band with a professional mentor to create, develop and perform at a professional level, according to the program’s website.
The music-therapy groups include programs for infants and young children and their caregivers. There’s also a “vibrational music therapy wellness program,” which offers “sound baths and meditative experiences,” as described on the website. The session is led by a certified music therapist.
The work is expanding into Hospice therapy for patients, as well as drop-in group therapy work with youth through local entities such as Tacoma Housing Authority and workshops at Tacoma Public Library.
In addition to revenue generated from the programs, the outreach is funded through monetary donations as well as government grants.
“I think a lot of people think Ted Brown Music Outreach is wholly funded by Ted Brown Music, but we actually do a lot of fundraising elsewhere,” Uebelhor said. “So a large portion of our funding is from corporate sponsorships, which includes Ted Brown but others as well — private donations and fundraising events.”
The program also accepts instrument donations, with “most going to students across the state, but we also support local homeless shelters with instruments, and refugee groups and other different populations,” he added.
To participate
▪ Live It OutLoud Summer Rock camp is $449 per student, with scholarships available.
▪ Instrument Explorations camps are $99 (4-day morning camps). Scholarships are available, registration for 2025 will open this month.
▪ Jazz Improv Camps are $130 (4-day morning camps), scholarships are available, registration is open now
▪ Costs for music therapy services vary depending on the program. Sprouting Joy, for 3-8 year olds, is $80/five sessions, and discounts/scholarships are available. It’s also eligible for Developmental Disabilities Administration respite coverage.
For this year the outreach programs and camps will remain at Ted Brown’s Tacoma Mall Boulevard store, moving to the new space in 2026.
More information is at the Ted Brown Music Outreach website.
This story was originally published February 10, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
