Meet The Staff

Owner, Voice/Piano/Theater

Angela is the owner of Spotlight Performing Arts Academy. She primarily teaches voice and piano but also teaches a variety of other instruments such as violin, ukulele and guitar. Angela has received her Masters degree from the University of North Carolina Greensboro, a BA in Vocal Performance and Arts Management from Newberry College and a Masters Certification in Songwriting and Music Business from Berklee College of Music. In addition to operating Spotlight, Angela has taught Chorus, Music Appreciation and Theatre at the high school and elementary level.

Theater /Art

Jenna Hunter is a Charlotte native. She found her love of the theater in high school, where she enjoyed both performing and technical design. She went on to earn a BFA from University of North Carolina School of the Arts’ Design and Production program, with a major in Wig and Makeup Artistry. Over the years, Jenna has worked with Opera Carolina, CPCC, Children’s Theater, as well as designing the special effects makeup on the independent horror film “Nobody Loves Alice”. These days she enjoys creating art from a variety of mediums, favorites including: acrylic paints and watercolor pencil.

Dance  

Kate Loretz is originally from the New Haven, CT area where she grew up training under Lorraine Judd. She received a BA in Humanities with a concentration in Theatre Arts at Albertus Magnus College, New Haven, CT as well as a Dance Performance certification through Naugatuck Valley College. Her training includes tap with Dianne Walker, modern with Earl Mosley’s Institute of the Arts, ballet with Kate Lydon of ABT and many others. She and her husband, Kristopher, owned and operated their own dance studio, CT Dance Force in Hamden, CT from 2004-2012. After moving to NC, Kate was on the board of directors at Matthews Playhouse for several years as well as the board of Matthew’s Helping Hands, an area non-profit for children and families with special needs. She currently teaches ballet and tap for all ages at Monroe City Dance Academy (formerly Bonita’s School of Ballet). She teaches tap classes to adults at the Matthews Community Center and the Levine Senior Center. She is also a preschool and elementary theatre coach with Limelight Kids, Charlotte. Kate is a proud professional member of the National Dance Education Organization where she continues her dance teacher education. Kate is passionate about teaching proper dance technique, dance history and advocating for performing arts accessibility for all people. When not dancing, Kate enjoys reading, playing with her two dogs and cat and spending time with her husband and her two adult children.

Guitar, Bass, Drums +  

Michael "Bud" Burke is a life long musician, playing guitar for over 37 years, as well as bass guitar, drums, banjo, mandolin, lap steel, pedal steel, and piano. His first love is heavy metal music and playing lightning fast, but through the years he has come to enjoy many different styles (and tempos), including country, classical, fusion, and jazz. He grew up in San Jose, California, and as a young man studied music theory and classical guitar at the University of Santa Barbara. Following his studies, he had the opportunity to travel the world, touring in a heavy metal band that would take him to over 40 different countries, on 3 different continents. Throughout his career, he has learned a lot about music and he very much enjoys sharing what he has learned with others. When Bud is  not playing one of his instruments, he likes watching movies, spending time with his wife and their 6 cats, and practicing martial arts, as he trains for his 4th degree black belt in Taekwondo.