Meet Our Teachers and Therapists

Welcome to our team page! Rest assured that you will receive top-notch music lessons from our instructors who have earned degrees from prestigious institutions such as Florida State University, Stetson University, Bethune Cookman College, Yale, and others. Having the appropriate music teacher or therapist can make learning a musical instrument a delightful and enjoyable journey!

At Beachside Music, our in-studio, in-home, or online music lessons and music therapy will help build your confidence and skills in a warm and supportive environment. We currently have some availability for new students. Contact us for more info and availability.

Ashlee Hughes, MT-BC, NICU-MT

Founder, Music Therapist, Music Teacher

Meet Ashlee Hughes, a music therapy expert with over 15 years of experience. Ashlee Hughes grew up in New Smyrna Beach, Florida where she studied all types of music from an early age. She completed her bachelor's degree in music therapy at Florida State University. Ashlee has experience serving a variety of populations, including special needs, hospice, acute care medical (hospital and rehab), premature infants, traumatic brain injury, trauma, stroke, dementia, behavioral health, substance abuse, foster children, juvenile detention, and more. After running a successful hospital music therapy program for over 3 years, Ashlee moved back to her home community to open Beachside Music Lessons & Therapy in 2016. In addition to music therapy, Ashlee also teaches voice, piano, guitar, saxophone, early childhood music private lessons, and classes, like our famous Sip & Strum Ukulele Class for adults.

Ashlee is proud to serve her home town community through local organizations like Ormond Beach Mainstreet, Atlantic Center for the Arts, Halifax Behavioral Health, Children's Home Society, Community Action Team, Welcoming Hearts, and more. She also enjoys spending time as a Girl Scout Leader!

Eliott Hughes

Operational Manager, Music Teacher

Eliott Hughes grew up in Vero Beach, FL where he attended a charter school for the arts and studied music from a young age. At Beachside Music, Eliott is our operational manager and manages our students, families, teachers, and office. Eliott studied Music Composition and Theory at University of Florida. As a musician, he is proficient in theory, song writing, piano, voice, and guitar. Besides teaching, Eliott has been singing professionally for over 10 years, even having sang at Carnege Hall. Eliott is experienced in singing in operas, musicals, chorus/choir, and as a soloist. Having studied theory and composition immensely, Eliott has a deep knowledge and understanding of the inner workings of music. Eliott has an unique ability in breaking down the elements of music and teaching it in a simple and fun way. Eliott enjoying teaching a love of music to all ages!

Eliott enjoys giving back to the community by serving as a Board Member for Miracle League Baseball (a league that makes baseball accesible to kids/young adults with special needs) and playing in the church worship band.

Natalie Walker

Music Teacher

Meet Natalie, a music teacher with a passion for helping young people discover their musical talents. With a degree in vocal music from Bethune Cookman University, Natalie has been teaching intermediate vocal and beginning piano lessons at her church and in her community since 2015. During the day, she works as a music teacher for Volusia County Schools, and in the afternoons, she shares her love of music with students at Beachside Music. When she's not teaching, Natalie enjoys watching musicals and spending time with friends and family.

Ana Bregel

Music Therapist, Music Teacher

Ana graduated from Southeastern University in Lakeland, FL with a bachelor’s in Music Education and a minor in Psychology and then moved on to completed her bachelor's in Music Therapy at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College (SMWC) in Indiana. Then she completed her internship at Beachside Music and did such a great job, we hired her to be a permanent part of our team! Ana loves helping others and enjoys teaching children the joy of music. Beyond music therapy, Ana also teaches voice, ukulele, guitar, and piano.

Fun fact: Ana’s favorite musical activity is singing, especially in the choral setting, as well as performing in musical theatre shows and leading worship in church.

Matthew Rose

Music Teacher

Matthew, a central Florida native, has been playing trombone since he was 10 years old. Matthew earned a Bachelor of Music Performance from Stetson University and recently earned his Master of Music degree from Yale’s School of Music. During his time at Yale, Matthew studied under world-class faculty and guest teachers. Matthew has worked as a private music teacher, even teaching in Yale’s Music in School Initiative, teaching as young as 10 years old. Matthew will be teaching brass of all levels as well as beginning piano and ukulele.

When Matthew isn’t practicing or getting ready for a performance, he enjoys hiking and traveling. Matthew has a love for animals and even has a cat and two guinea pigs. When the weather is not up to par, he enjoys spending his time inside playing his video games and bingeing TV.

Matthew Berman

Music Teacher

Matt was born in Miami and has lived in Florida all his life, he started playing violin in early elementary school and has been involved in music ever since, participating in orchestra and drama programs all the way up to high school. He is experienced in working with kids of all ages and has even been a music teacher is summer camps! Matt is Currently studying at UCF, majoring in Anthropology with a specialty in Ethnomusicology. He has always had an insatiable curiosity and a passion for sharing the arts, which may have cumulated in his terrible tendency to acquire instruments he’s never heard of before to try and learn them. While violin is his specialty, Matt also teaches mandolin, guitar, ukulele, and piano, as well as the fife, cavaquinho, and charango upon special request.

Outside of school, he spends his time playing with three different bands, or in rock climbing gyms trying his best not to fall off.

Samone Hicks

Music Teacher

Samone Hick has had a love of music since a young age. Her private voice lessons in her dual-enrollment program at State College of Florida cultivated a special love for classical music, so she pursued it. Samone completed her Associates of Arts then transferred to Stetson University for Bachelor of Music in vocal performance. She then went on to earn her Master of Music degree at University of Florida. After completing her educational journey, she taught both voice and piano to various age groups before teaching as an adjunct at the State College of Florida. Amid her teaching career, Samone still performed locally with singing groups, as a soloist, and for musical theatre shows. Samone Hicks is now a resident of the Daytona Beach area where she teaches voice at Bethune Cookman. She looks forward to instructing at Beachside Music in voice, piano, and ukulele.

Hannah Randolph

Music Therapist, Music Teacher

Hannah is a graduate of the historical Bethune-Cookman University where she obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in Music with a concentration in voice. Hannah continued her education at Florida State University, receiving her Master of Music degree in Music Therapy. Hannah loves singing in the choral setting, at church, and in her work! Hannah has been singing almost all of her life and is glad to be working in a field where she can use her gift all the time. Hannah loves helping others and using music as a tool to be able to accomplish their individual goals. In addition to offering music therapy services, Hannah will be teaching voice, ukulele, piano, and guitar.

Outside of work, she loves to go to the beach or the pool, spend time with friends and family, singing in church, and finding new things to do for self-care.

Lilly Kershner

Music Teacher

Lilly Kershner holds a Music Education degree from Bethune-Cookman University. Her musical journey began in middle school where she participated in various musical ensembles. Under the guidance of Dr. Sarah Jane Young, she pursued music throughout her college years. Besides being an elementary music teacher, Lilly is passionate about playing and teaching multiple instruments such as piano, ukulele, singing, and flute. She aspires to impart her expertise and passion at Beachside Music Lessons & Therapy.

Jodi-Ann Taylor

Music Teacher

Jodi-Ann Taylor, a Florida native of Jamaican heritage and a graduated of Stetson University holding a degree in Digital Arts and Music/Entrepreneurship minors from Stetson University. As a versatile multimedia artist, her creative pursuits include music/audio production, sound design, music performance, painting, writing, and photography. Jodi-Ann is well recognized in the community, receiving the Ann West Hall Award, Student Choice Award, and Faculty Choice Award. In 2022, she presented her solo exhibition, Imago Dei, at the Eatonville Library. In addition, her musical endeavors have also earned her accolades, including the American Negro Spirituals Category 2nd Place Winner at the SERNATS Vocal Competition in March 2023.

Jodi-Ann is driven by her passion for creating visual art, writing, producing, and performing music, and collaborating with fellow creatives through things such as songwriting, singing in choir, and leading worship in church. She is also actively involved in impacting local communities through art wellness programs and non-profit initiatives. Jodi-Ann teaches multiple instruments including piano, voice, and ukulele.

Brittani Mueller

Music Therapy Intern, Music Teacher

Brittani Mueller graduated in 2020 with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology

from Liberty University, 2022 with a Bachelor of Science in Commercial Music from Liberty University, and is in the process of completing her Bachelor’s in Music Therapy from Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College to become a Board-Certified Music Therapist. She is excited about doing her internship with Beachside Music Lessons and Therapy. Her experiences in music therapy include working with children from the ages of 1 to 19 years old with neurological disorders, cerebral palsy, autism, holoprosencephaly, PTSD, psychosis, and deafness as well as age ranges from 19 to 32 years with campomelic dysplasia, autism, PTSD, and anxiety disorder.

Brittani’s instruments include voice, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, ukulele,

suitcase foot drum, harmonica, and upright bass. She started playing music

on the piano at a very young age and found her interest transferred to string instruments. She can be seen playing music as a Singer/Songwriter

throughout local venues and festivals as well as throughout the southeast of

the U.S. She credits her faith in God and her close family for all her successes so far.

About Us

“Beachside Music is absolutely amazing. Their teachers makes a fun music lesson plan tailored to each student and their needs which results in their best productivity possible. My daughters have become less shy and show an improvement with their critical thinking skills.”

- Nicole

How It Works

Sign-up

Once you've made contact with us, we'll call you for the initial assessment. We'll go over the program, the cost, and find out if home music lessons are right for you. Then we begin the student/teacher matching process.

Student/Teacher Matching

This is what separates us from the rest. We take the time to hand match each student with a teacher or therapist we think will best fit their needs and goals. You don't have to worry about digging through pages of teacher listings hoping you find the right teacher. We do the work for you. All of our teachers and therapists are background checked and highly qualified.

Schedule Your Lessons

We will work together with your hand picked teacher or therapist to schedule your weekly lessons. Our teachers/therapists then use our custom built online tool to track your weekly music lessons or therapy or any changes in your schedule.

Ready to get started?