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Jeff Shaw, 35Executive Director/Founder
Maine Academy of Modern Music
Jeff Shaw was nominated for his MaineToday Media Forty Under 40 award by a Falmouth mom whose young son, Jackson, attends the nonprofit Maine Academy of Modern Music (MAMM) which Shaw founded five years ago.
“My son, who’s 10, was taking bass lessons at the school, and when he became good enough, Jeff put him in a band (Emergency Sirens) with three other kids. They’re playing their first show this weekend, and then at the Old Port Festival on June 10.
“What really impresses me, and also led me to volunteer at MAMM, is how amazing Jeff is with the children, and the impact that he makes on them,†Suzanne Quinn explains. “Kids who might otherwise be playing by themselves at home are playing with other, likeminded kids, and the result is that their music is really brought to life, played for live audiences.â€Â
Shaw, executive director at/ founder of MAMM, grew up in the Downeast town of Milbridge, learned during his teenage years to play guitar, and went on to graduate from the University of Maine at Machias in 2000. After college he traveled, then became a music teacher and launched a company bringing music and workshops to schools, nursing homes, and youth organizations in eastern Maine.
Moving to Portland in 2003, Shaw began teaching at the Spurwink Schools (his present day job), Long Creek Youth Development Center and the Portland Conservatory of Music. MAMM, perhaps best known for the “MAMM SLAM: Maine’s High School Rock Off,†serves hundreds of southern Maine kids (and holds adult rock camps, too) every year. This summer will see more than a dozen MAMM camps around the state (see maineacademyofmodernmusic.org). Shaw is too busy to play in a band these days, but his Portland household, shared with wife Aviva and children Piper and Brayden, is very musical.
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