Meet the Team

Chad Matchette (he/him)

Chad is living a lifelong dream of not only working in the arts, but also teaching and helping encourage young people to express themselves and find their voice through musical theatre and dance. He feels so lucky to have such a wonderful team to work with alongside a truly amazing student body. Chad has been involved in the Vancouver theatre scene as an actor, director, producer, writer and teacher for over 35 years. He has produced four critically acclaimed shows for Royal City Musical Theatre in New Westminster: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, The Will Rogers Follies, Hello Dolly, and Oklahoma.  Chad is also the Co-Owner and Artistic Director of Align Entertainment, an award-winning theatre company that produces large scale family Broadway Musicals out of the Michael J. Fox Theatre.

Acting highlights include: Lenny in Of Mice and Men (CTC Award Winner – Best Actor), Ray in Lonestar (CTC Nomination – Best Supporting Actor), Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof (CTC Award Winner, Ovation Nomination – Best Actor), Daddy Warbucks in Annie (CTC Nomination – Best Actor).

Directing highlights include: Anne of Green Gables (CTC Nomination – Best Director), Shrek (Ovation Nomination – Best Director), The Addams Family (Ovation Nomination – Best Director), Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Ovation Nomination – Best Director).

Erin Matchette (she/her)

Erin has contributed to numerous theatre productions since starting drama class at the age of 10 and winning an aggregate award at the Prince George Drama Festival in 1986.  Training includes the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, UBC, and the William Davis Centre (now Vancouver Film School).  Erin has attended master class with Peter Jorgensen, Robert McQueen, and Miriam Fond, but is especially indebted to Sandra Head (who may be a certified guardian angel).  Mostly an ensemble player but favourite roles include: Miss Hanigan, Ursula, Alice Bieneke, Miss Stacy, and Sister Robert Anne.  Erin appeared in Align Entertainment’s first ten shows, seven shows with the now defunct Footlight, and an enjoyable five summers at Theatre Under The Stars (three onstage).

Jan Ballard (she/her)

Jan has worked with the Lindbjerg Academy for many years.  She, and her husband Ian, supply, style and work at the shows putting wigs and makeup on for the many different varieties of performances.  Jan is very proud to be working along side such a great group of people.  She is also a stage manager during showtime - helping with picking up, setting up, and taking down sets.  During shows you can always find Dan or Jan on one side of the back stage or the other.

Jordan Latimer (she/her)

Jordan’s love of acting and theatre comes from a childhood immersed in the arts. She grew up on film sets and backstage with parents in the industry. She started out as a child model, trained in acting classes in Vancouver, was represented by Lucas Talent, trained on the violin and performed on stage whenever she had the chance. Jordan first started out with the Lindbjerg Academy at 16 where she played Marilla, (Anne of Green Gables) and she never left. Her passion for teaching has contributed to her successful 15+ year career, with children of all ages . She is also a professional teacher with the Coquitlam School District with bachelors in Education and History. Jordan is so happy to share her love for the arts and encourage the development of all the students she works with.

Kim Bunka (she/her)

Kim is thrilled to be part of the Lindbjerg Academy teaching team! Kim began her musical theatre training in 1998 with The Academy and has been in love with theatre ever since! She grew up performing all around the Lower Mainland and is a graduate of Grant MacEwan’s Theatre Arts program in Edmonton. Fresh out of theatre school Kim began teaching voice lessons and musical theatre for the Lindbjerg Academy where she did a combination of direction, music direction and and choreography for such productions as Bugsy Malone Jr., Annie Jr., School House Rock Jr., Beauty and the Beast Jr. and There’s No Business Like Show Business, a review style show which she also wrote. She has performed in over 45 plays and musicals around the Lower Mainland and Edmonton, with various choirs and has studied private voice lessons for many years. Kim took a leap of faith, trust and pixie dust and left teaching to pursue her dream of working for Disney Cruise Line. That dream came true and she ended up working for The Mouse for 8 years, first as a performer and then as an Entertainment Officer in charge of overseeing all the ship wide entertainment. Since returning home she has been so thrilled to be back teaching with Lindbjerg and this year adding Showstoppers Academy to the mix too! Kim looks forward to using her over 20 years of training and experience to inspire the next generation of “theatre kids”.

Emily Kerr (she/her)

Emily has had the opportunity to work with the Lindbjerg team for 10 years and has shared her love of dance with her students over the years. She has seen many of her students grow from a young age through to graduation, including training at a competitive level. Not only have her students been successful at competitions but she too has received awards for her creative choreography. Emily began dancing at the age of 2 where she trained in RAD Ballet and eventually branched out into Jazz, Lyrical, Modern, Contemporary and Hip Hop. Emily entered her first competition at the age of 3 and went on to the Championships.  Over the years, she competed in many different local competitions and received scholarships and awards for her musicality and performance. She also had the opportunity to take classes from So You Think You Can Dance choreographers, Napoleon & Tabitha, Benji Schwimmer and Blake McGrath. In high school, Emily was recognized with “Dancer of the Year” in grade 8, 11 and 12 and received the award from the Surrey Dance Teachers Association for her excellence in choreography. Emily continues to keep current with the upcoming styles that continue to evolve, by taking online classes from professional choreographers all over the world.  Emily enjoys sharing this love of dance with her students and encourages them to develop their technique while stimulating their own creativity.

Brent Hughes (he/him)

Brent has been teaching at Lindbjerg for the past 11 years with his main focus being music directing the productions for the RSA class. Brent has been the music director for both Align Entertainment and Theatre Under the Stars. Brent has been teaching music in the Coquitlam school district for over 30 years and is currently the head of the Fine Arts department at Dr. Charles Best Secondary. Brent is responsible for all the instrumental and choral ensembles at the school as well as music directing the school’s musicals.

John Bradbury (he/him)

Learning to build with his grandfather as a child resulted in over 20 years of set design and carpentry for John.   In addition to Lindbjerg Academy, he has enjoyed working with Align Entertainment and Boone Dog Productions as well as other Vancouver theatre companies. Select list of building projects include The Little Mermaid, Lion King, Tarzan and Peter Pan.  John has loved being a part of the Lindbjerg Family for the past 10 years.

Dan Wiebe (he/him)

Dan has been involved in musical theatre for the past 15 years. It all started with Lindbjerg Academy where his children joined, and fell in love with singing, dancing and acting. Over the years, and through the help of talented individuals, he has learn the trade of set building and design, and Assistant Stage Management. Past shows include, Align’s ‘Little Mermaid’, ‘Joseph’, ‘Legally Blonde, ‘Shrek’ ’ and ‘A Christmas Story’ as ASM, ‘Legally Blonde’ ‘Shrek’ and ‘A Christmas Story’ as set construction, numerous Lindbjerg Academy productions as Set Design and ASM, Naked Goddess Productions “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever”, Bring on Tomorrows ‘Fame’ and ’13’, and Snapshot Collective’s ‘Sweeney Todd’. Bring on the show!

Emily Matchette (they/he/she)

Emily has been calling Lindbjerg home since 2009 when they began here as a student. Once graduating high school, he made the transition to teaching and has loved every second of it! A graduate of the Musical Theatre program at Capilano University, and the Bachelor of Performing Arts Program at Douglas College, Emily is passionate about youth theatre and has been a teacher for the Lindbjerg Summer Camp four times (so far!). She has also worked on CTORA’s (Children’s Theatre of Richmond Association) productions of Peter Pan Jr (director), Cinderella (choreographer) and Beauty and the Beast Jr (Assistant Director).

Select performing credits include: Gertrude McFuzz in Seussical the Musical (Align Entertainment), The Mad Hatter/Ensemble in SHREK the Musical (Align Entertainment), Ensemble in Mamma Mia (Arts Club Theatre Company), Millie Dillmount in Thoroughly Modern Millie (Exit 22), and Lou Ann in Hairspray (Theatre Under The Stars).

Select choreographer/director credits include: Frozen Jr (Lindbjerg/Showstoppers), Peter Pan Jr (CTORA), American Idiot (URP - Ovation Nomination for Best Choreography), Cinderella Youth Edition (CTORA), Draining the Swamp (Curious Creations), Ten Blocks on the Camino Real (Arbutus Studios) and Legally Blonde Jr (Lindbjerg Academy).

Chris Adams (he/him)

Chris holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from The University of Victoria in Theatre and studied Musical Theatre in New York with Circle in the Square Theater School. He is a two time Ovation Award Winner.  Chris got his start teaching and directing at UBC for their Summer Musical Theatre classes, teaching 6-16 year olds everything from Musical Theatre to Acting to Improv.  For the Lindbjerg Academy Chris has directed Mulan, High School Musical, Legally Blonde, Suessical, The Lion King, Honk, & Aladdin.  He was also the director of the award winning Bring On Tomorrow Co production of 13: The Musical at the Waterfront Theatre. As an actor, Chris has performed on some of Canada’s best stages, including playing Charlie Brown in You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown at the Globe Theatre, touring with Axis Theatre in the National Tour of The Number 14, and performing at the Kay Meek in Little Women the Musical.

Nicol Spinola (she/her)

Calling Vancouver home, Nicol Spinola is a theatre and dance practitioner who fell in love with the arts at a young age. Beginning as a competitive dancer, Nicol quickly transitioned into teaching and has continued to teach for over 20 years in studios in Canada and Japan. This is Nicol's 7th Season at Lindbjerg Academy where she also co-leads the dance division. 

As an award-winning choreographer, Nicol’s work has been seen at Theatre Under the Stars, Align Entertainment, Chemainus Theatre Festival, Gateway Theatre and Capilano University. Nicol is the Co-Managing Artistic Director for Raincity Theatre, whose sold-out productions of Sweeney Todd and Company won a total of 5 Jessie awards & 3 Ovation awards. She is the Founding Director of Camp Cue - an overnight musical theatre training camp for teens.

Nicol’s upbringing and lived experience influence not only her teaching but her leadership and artistry; her largest passion is creating safe, and more equitable rooms for her students, collaborators and fellow artists.

Joanna Kovats (she/her)

A Musical Theatre performer for over 25 years, singing, dancing, and acting have been Joanna’s life passions. She started dancing at a very young age completing all the examinations in Ballet, Tap and Modern dance with the British Association of Teachers of Dance in the UK. Successfully completing a teaching diploma in Ballet, Tap and Modern dance before setting off on a professional career on the stage that enabled her to travel the world.

Performing in dance reviews and musicals in England, Germany, Spain, Japan, and Canada, Joanna’s knowledge of the performing arts is extensive.

Now a proud member of the Canadian Dance Teachers Association in the Classical Ballet, Tap and Jazz divisions, Joanna is thrilled to be a part of the Lindbjerg family, sharing her passion for dance and theatre with her students!

Sheryl McMillan (she/her)

From Musical Theatre to Children’s Theatre, from Dinner Theatre to film and television, Sheryl has been a part of the entertainment industry for well over 30 years, performing, impersonating, choreographing, directing, and teaching.

Sheryl’s teaching career began in Australia first as a jazz teacher and then a natural progression into Musical Theatre and Stage. As the criteria for Dance Festivals changed and singing became an important part of performance in the dance community, Sheryl began voice coaching for performance troupes across Queensland. For those Dancers wishing to enhance their talents and become more versatile as performers, Sheryl began teaching choral and private voice lessons. So that is how it began. Fast forward past several years, with a move back to Canada in 2004, Sheryl has been teaching steadily in the Coquitlam and Vancouver areas ever since.

Sheryl's teaching credentials include Musical Director for TUTS summer camps, Musical Theatre teacher for the New Westminster School Board as one of their after-school programs in three schools over a two-year period. As well as having taught Musical Theatre and Voice at the Jewish Community Centre and Stagecoach Musical Theatre School in Coquitlam. In 2018, trying to find a better work/life balance, Sheryl joined the ranks of the Lindbjerg team and has never looked back.

Nicole Stevens (she/her)

From Coquitlam, British Columbia, Nicole was singing before she could even walk. Her love of musical theatre started at a very young age and was one of the original students of the Lindbjerg Academy. She later attended the Canadian College of Performing Arts and has now been an inspiring musical theatre teacher for almost 20 years. Nicole is thrilled to be back teaching where her love of Musical Theatre was discovered.

Nicole has worked with children of all ages, from numerous local high schools, middle schools and elementary schools across the lower mainland to Pre-school programs with Music Box based in New Westminster. Choreographing and directing The Wizard of Oz, Footloose, Beauty and the Beast, Grease, The Pajama Game, Seussical, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee for Centennial in Coquitlam, Beauty and the Beast and Fiddler on the Roof for Riverside in Port Coquitlam, The Wizard of Oz, Beauty and The Beast, Annie, Seussical, Alice in Wonderland and Cinderella for the Vancouver Talmud Torah, and The Wizard of Oz at Berkshire Park Elementary with over 200 students performing.

Nicole has performed on stage in several shows for prominent B.C. theatre companies, including Theatre Under the Stars’ Grease! and Legally Blonde, Fighting Chance Productions’ Little Shop of Horrors and Nunsense, APPLAUSE’s The Unsinkable Molly Brown and RCMT’s West Side Story. She took a break 8 years ago to have her 2 daughters, Charlotte and Sophie, who are currently discovering their love of Musical Theatre.

Angela Lundin (she/her)

Angela is thrilled to be teaching our young performers in Musical Theatre Competition, Showchoir and Rising Stars. A veteran performer, Angela wrote and performed her one woman show Finding Wonderland at the Evergreen Cultural Centre as part of her SFU MA thesis. Favourite roles include Amy/April in Company, Pam in Baby, Peggy Sawyer in 42nd Street and Kathy Sawyer in Singin’ In the Rain. TV credits include roles on The X-Files, Millennium and Cold Squad along with numerous commercials. Having spent much of her adult years working professionally as a singer and actress around the globe, Angela is now an elementary music specialist in Coquitlam where she passes on her passion and knowledge to young children.

Jesse Alvarez (he/him)

Jesse is a graduate of the musical theatre program at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy and has performed on stages across North America and Europe. He shared the stage with legendary Soprano Marni Nixon for Lincoln Centre’s Winter’s Eve Festival and was a part of the audience chorus for “No Time At All” on the 2013 Broadway cast recoding of Pippin. Jesse is excited to join the Lindbjerg family and hopes to inspire and nurture the next generation of aspiring performers.

Some performance highlights include: Miss Saigon, Godspell, 42nd Street, and The Wiz(Interlakes), Barber of Seville(Vancouver Opera), LIFT(Awkward Stage), Joseph(Align Entertainment), FAME(Bring On Tomorrow), A Chorus Line(Fighting Chance), Rock of Ages(Renegade), HAIR(SOOP).

Naomi Wright (she/her)

Naomi began her dance training in the heart of small town Alberta with Miss Joanne's School of dance at the age of 5 training in all styles including acrobatics under the Acrobatic Arts curriculum. Her competitive years were filled with many titles and scholarships allowing her to train all over the country at different conventions and even the opportunity to train at Los Angeles' The Edge. 

After graduation she moved to Vancouver to train under Harbour Dance Center`s Intensive Training Program, (ITP) where she trained in commercial dance, acting and circus. Her professional performances included We Day, Vancouver's International Dance Festival, and Small Stage`s Winter Series.

Naomi specializes in teaching jazz, lyrical and acrobatics and she continues to educate herself through different avenues and curriculums. Naomi is passionate about making her classes a safe space for students to push themselves and develop their love for dance. She hopes her students leave feeling inspired and confident in their abilities so they may achieve great things in and out of the studio. 

Chan Smook (they/them)

Chan Smook has been a lover of dance since they started at the age of 5. Growing up in Alberta, Chan trained in every discipline offered at their studio. Throughout competing, Chan won a variety of scholarships including “Edge Performing Arts” Scholarship in LA, “Be Discovered” scholarship in NYC as well as a Harbour Dance Scholarship in Vancouver. Chan has currently lived in Vancouver for 6 years and has trained with several intensive companies, throughout this training they won an additional training scholarship to LA.

Since their move, Chan has had the opportunity to work within the TV and film industry. A highlight has been working with Mandy Moore on the NBC series, “ Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist”. Chan has also worked on numerous music videos. A highlight from this is Josh Ramsay's Music Video "Can't Give It Up"- Featuring Tyler Shaw. Chan has also had the opportunity of live performances. A highlight from this is performing back up at "A Night Of True Colors" a drag show featuring 5 different Ru Paul Drag Race Queens produced by Patrick Roberge Productions.

Chan's hardwork, infectious energy and passion makes them a joy to work with. They are forever grateful to share their love for dance with others and are beyond excited to be joining Lindbjerg Academy!

Elisabeth Pollock (she/her)

Elisabeth was a student at Lindbjerg Academy for eight years and has been a TA for four. She participated in musical theatre, ballet, lyrical, tap, hip-hop and jazz classes.  She joined the Lindbjerg team last year as a student teacher and part of the props department and is excited to be continuing this year as head of the Props Department. Select stage credits include Lumière, “Beauty and the Beast”, Tanya, “Mamma Mia” (Lindbjerg Academy) and Mrs. Tottendale, “The Drowsy Chaperone” (Rivers Edge theatre).  Elisabeth has also had the pleasure of working backstage as a stagehand in credits such as “Annie” and “Shrek the Musical” (Align Entertainment). Elisabeth looks forward to starting this new position and is excited to share her passion for theatre and creativity with others.

Kelsey Tierney (she/her)

Kelsey has spent her childhood surrounded by music. Joining Showstoppers Academy in Maple Ridge at age 6, she has grown up performing onstage. A lover of singing and music Kelsey has also been a part of both the Coastal Sound Choir and the BC Girls Choir in the lower mainland. Kelsey also played the French Horn during high school, being selected to perform with the BCMEA Honour Wind Ensemble in 2018. Kelsey attended Simon Fraser University after high school, obtaining a Bachelor of Arts in Archaeology in 2023. Select theatre credits include Missy in The Marvelous Wonderettes (Vagabond Players).

Miss Kelsey has performed many different jobs working first at Showstoppers Academy in Maple Ridge and then as well at Lindbjerg Academy—including making props, costuming shows, working backstage, reception, admin work and teaching some of the musical theatre classes. She is excited to continue helping kids find their passion in musical theatre and performing.

Brontë Gooselaw (she/her)

Brontë is more than thrilled to be working at Lindbjerg, since she has spent the past 8 years learning and thriving here till her graduation in 2023. She is skilled in a variety of dance styles, including Hip Hop, Jazz, Jazz Funk, Ballet, Pointe, Contemporary, Musical Theatre, and more. She spent 5 years of her time at Lindbjerg assisting many classes, including Jazz, Ballet, and Musical Theatre.

Past credits include Marcellus in The Music Man, Babette in Beauty and The Beast (Lindbjerg), Jungle Creature in Suessical, Little Red Riding Hood in Shrek (Align Entertainment), and Show Person in Curtains (Applause! Theatre Society). She has won many awards for her citizenship and dance talents, including Top 10 Dancer and, awarded by the Shine Dance Festival.