At Kudzu Music, we have experienced, highly qualified instructors for piano, guitar, violin/viola/cello, banjo, fiddle, mandolin, harmonica, and voice. Whether you are just beginning or want to improve your skills as a seasoned musician, our instructors can help you achieve your goals.

Jeanie Hawkins - piano, voice


We are fortunate to have Jeanie join our Kudzu teaching staff on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons.

Originally from Arkansas, Jeanie has taught general music and chorus at Hardin Park School since 2001.  She is a Music Education graduate of the University of Central Arkansas. 

Jeanie and husband, John, have 3 grown children and are soon expecting their first grandchild.

Terri Miller -piano, music theory

Music has been a vital part of Terri’s life since the age of 6. She earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Piano and Music Therapy from West Texas A&M University and certification in Instrumental Music Education from Appalachian State University. She has over 40 years of teaching experience – including preschool music, church music directing and accompanying, middle school band and orchestra, and private piano. Terri loves sharing her passion for music and strives to pass it on to her students. She and her husband, Richard, are the owners of Kudzu Music.

Dick Wilson - guitar, fiddle, banjo, mandolin, wood flute, tin whistle, harmonica and dulcimer

Dick has been playing music for over 5 decades and teaching for about 30 years. He plays a wide variety of musical styles and instruments.

He enjoys building fiddles and learned stringed instrument repair through an apprenticeship with Carl McIntyre.

Dick has played with a number of bands over the years, including Ola Belle Reed, Three On a String (Birmingham), and danced with North Carolina's Green Grass Cloggers. He danced across Central Canada for a year and a half before returning to school to earn a doctorate in clinical psychology.

We're excited to have Dick join our talented team of teachers at Kudzu Music. Please call us to set up a lesson time.

Cindy Tate – piano, music therapy

Cindy is a native of Burlington, NC. She earned a Bachelor of Music in Music Therapy from ASU and  completed her Master of Music Therapy degree at ASU. She is trained in the Suzuki Piano method, Music Together, and the Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music and has taught private and group piano lessons in Raleigh, Lenoir and Boone since 2000. Cindy currently provides music therapy services to school-aged children in Caldwell and Watauga counties and piano instruction to people of all ages and abilities. “I am especially interested in the healing nature of the arts. I feel that participation in music and arts provides a benefit that goes beyond the classroom, beyond the modality itself. Music is often a strength for the children I work with. I love that their musical ability provides them a way to share their voice with the world.”

Lauren Hayworth - piano, guitar, banjo, ukulele, voice

Lauren has a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education from Florida State University (2005, Magna Cum Laude) and a Master’s Degree in Music Performance from Appalachian State (2010, Summa Cum Laude). 

 

She has over fifteen years of experience teaching private music lessons for students of all ages as well as decade of experience as a gigging musician and recording artist. 

Lauren is a great addition to our Wednesday teaching schedule. She welcomes beginning students of all ages in piano, banjo, and ukulele and teen/adult vocal students.

Beth Jones—guitar, fiddle,
mandolin, banjo

Beth has been playing and
teaching music in the High
Country for many years. She
has played with many of the
areas finest musicians—as
well as being a soloist— at
concerts, festivals, recording
projects, and local eating establishments.
Folk, country, bluegrass, and
old-timey music are her favorite
genres and she enjoys using
time-worn favorites to
teach her students.
Beth delights in teaching
adults and loves seeing them
become confident, wellrounded
musicians.

Robert Gucwa - guitar, bass, fiddle, ukulele and luthier


Robert is a classically trained guitarist, but plays and teaches many other styles and genres of music. He recently completed the Mark O'Connor fiddle camp and is looking forward to teaching new fiddle students. Robert spends Mondays and Thursdays at Kudzu teaching lessons to students of all ages and abilities. 

Robert is also an excellent luthier and does all the stringed repair work for Kudzu music customers.

When he is not teaching at Kudzu, Robert works at the Violin Shop in Charlotte.

Robert and Elizabeth live in Morganton and have a beautiful toddler, Peter Barrett.