BY BRAD STAGER
Special Correspondent
TAMPA — After earning his master’s degree in music composition, Matthew Maines came to Tampa from North Carolina in 2005 for a three-week house-sitting gig and didn’t go back. Now he’s combining that personal spontaneity with a passion for teaching as he builds a music instruction business, Tampa Music School.
His venture into creative entrepreneurship follows a seven-year stint teaching music for Hillsborough County schools, including recognition as 2013 Teacher of the Year at Dale Mabry Elementary, where he formed rock music and steel pan bands.
Maines says he enjoyed teaching in the public school system, but the urge to move to his own rhythm was strong.
“That was a very difficult decision, one I wrestled with over a long time,” he said. “My passion is with kids and I found working with the school could be restrictive. There’s a whole lot of limitations and part of the draw was if I have my own place, I can access a whole community of kids and adults, and have so much more freedom to make things happen.”
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