Meet Our Teachers and Therapists

With the right music teacher or therapist, learning a musical instrument can be a wonderful and fun experience!

At Beachside Music, our online music lessons and music therapy will help build your confidence and skills in a warm and supportive environment. (*Our in-home lessons are currently suspended). We are accepting new online students.

Ashlee Hughes, MT-BC, NICU-MT

Founder, Music Therapist, Music Teacher

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 over 10 years of experience serving a variety of populations, including special needs, hospice, acute care medical, 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, small group classes, and also a teen band.

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.

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 to break down the elements of music and teach it in a simple and fun way. Eliott enjoying teaching a love of music to all ages!

Michelle Marie Lecza

Music Teacher

Michelle Marie Lecza is a local of Daytona Beach and has always been a musically inclined person for as long as she can remember. Throughout high school she was in Choir, Drama, and an Advanced Vocal Acapella group. Michelle privately studied Voice, Music Theory and Music Composition for 12 years. At Beachside Music she teaches Voice, Piano, and Guitar. In 2016 she appeared on season 15 of "American Idol" she was a heavy competitor with tons of air time and was eventually cut at the top 24. Aside from teaching, Michelle performs at local live music venues around Florida. Michelle also volunteers her time with different charities including, Halifax Hospice Care, The TEARS Foundations, Rolling Thunder, Local Veterans programs and more. She is extremely happy to be teaching with Beachside Music and hopes to inspire her students and lead them to a music loving life.

Kristin Thomas, MT-BC

Music Therapist, Music Teacher

Kristin grew up in Orlando, Florida where she was an active participant in all thing’s music and arts throughout her life. Kristin graduated from Florida State University with a Bachelor of Music in Music Therapy. Growing up, she was a caregiver for special needs children and treasured experiences working with them alongside the Children’s Miracle Network. These experiences helped nurture a passion for working with special needs children and ultimately led her to pursue Music Therapy in college. Kristin completed her internship at Easterseals Midwest in Cape Girardeau, Missouri where she served children and adults with Autism. Throughout internship, she coordinated and implemented activities for individuals with Autism to help them meet their personal, academic, communication, and social goals. Kristin also had the opportunity to complete her Neurologic Music Therapy certificate at Alverno College in Milwaukee, Wisconsin during the summer of 2018. Kristin is excited to share her passion for music within the Central Florida community that has given so much to her.

Barbara Marese

Music Therapist, Music Teacher

Barbara grew up in New Jersey and Connecticut. She has been playing piano since she was 5 years old, and was very involved in music and the arts growing up. Barbara graduated from Lesley University with a Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling with a specialization in Music Therapy. During her internships, she worked with the visually impaired and those with severe mental illnesses. In addition to music therapy, she teaches piano, voice, guitar, and ukulele. Barbara is excited to become a member of the Central Florida community and to serve the area!

Jonna Samson

Administrative Assistant

Jonna grew up in Quezon City, Philippines. She works at Beachside Music on the team as an administrative assistant. Jonna helps with social media, graphic design, and other important administrative tasks to help the business side run smoothly! When Jonna isn't working with Beachside Music, she also works as an Elementary Teacher. Jonna teaches different subjects including music. She has a passion for both teaching and music. Jonna says she feels very lucky and blessed to be able to practice both of the things that she loves the most. She thinks teaching is a very noble job (so do we) and says it's heartwarming to see her pupils learn something new and also to learn from her students too! Music has always been a big part of Jonna's life and her teaching always incorporate music because it helps motivate her pupils and makes every lesson fun.

Natalie Walker

Music Teacher

Natalie was born and raised in a small city in North Florida and attended Bethune Cookman University where she received her music degree with a concentration in vocal music. Natalie has been teaching intermediate vocal lessons and beginning piano lessons at her church and to youth in her community since 2015. In her free time, Natalie enjoyed watching musicals and spending time with friends and family.

“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?