Tacoma Jazz Academy Moves to Permanent Location
The conservatory-style school will be operating from its new home on Nov. 1, 2026
A new hub for jazz in the South Sound, Tacoma Jazz Academy is nearing an exciting final stage. The conservatory-style school will officially begin operating from its permanent location on 6th Avenue and Prospect Street on Sunday, November 1, where it will serve as a place for jazz study, private lessons, and ensemble training.
Tacoma Jazz Academy was established by the same team behind Seattle Jazz Academy. Its mission is to be a place where students, musicians, and teachers can all gather and connect to study jazz as a foundation for creativity and lifelong musical growth right in the heart of Tacoma.
“We want Tacoma Jazz Academy to become a kind of clubhouse for the jazz community — somewhere people come not just for a lesson, but to meet other musicians, play together, learn from each other, and be part of the music happening in Tacoma,” says Mack Grout, Seattle and Tacoma Jazz Academy founder and CEO. “If we can contribute some infrastructure and resources that help an already impressive jazz community grow and connect, that would be a huge success for us.”
TJA has already been offering private lessons from a temporary location in the Tacoma Armory since September. There, a preliminary group of founding students have started the makings of the TJA community. Moving into the school’s permanent location on 6th Avenue will allow TJA to expand its offerings with larger rooms specifically intended for group classes, ensembles, workshops, and community events. These programs will begin once enough students are enrolled to fill out an ensemble or group class.
But the school will not just be a place for music lessons and classes. The long-term goal of TJA is to offer pathways that connect students with Tacoma’s established community of excellent musicians, teachers, and faculty from local colleges. Someone might start with a weekly lesson, then take a musicianship class, join an ensemble, attend a workshop or meetup, and become part of the local jazz community.
While TJA has reached an exciting milestone, it’s only the beginning of the Academy’s journey. TJA is now accepting auditions for ensembles and will roll out more programming in the coming months.
A note from TJA's founder
I grew up in the South Sound, and when I was learning to play, I often had to travel to Seattle to find the kinds of jazz lessons and musical experiences I was looking for. Tacoma today has an incredible community of musicians and educators — there are outstanding players, great private teachers, and excellent jazz faculty at the local colleges. That’s actually part of what makes Tacoma so exciting to us. We’re not trying to replace any of that; we want to build a home that can help connect it. A school can bring teachers, students, and professional musicians together under one roof and create ensembles, workshops, performances, jam sessions, visiting artist events, jazz festivals and other opportunities that are difficult for any one private studio to build on its own.
-- Mack Grout
Tacoma Jazz Academy is now accepting auditions for ensembles:
Audition form and information: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfX8xzByLS15r7f5AUS4cP4dU-EQkliXqROicMDMOYymt1qsA/viewform
Contact TJA and find a program that fits you:
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