THE TEAM

Kat was awarded a scholarship to study Musical Theatre at Mountview Academy Of Performing Arts earning her a BA Hons in Performance and graduating with a 2:1. 

In addition to running Freedom Academy Kat is also a professional actress. She has appeared in many productions on stage both in the west end, on tour and also on screen. 

She can been seen in numerous TV commercials for products from Dominos pizza to Tescos!  

Kat is in high demand as an audition coach and has worked with many children on west end shows such as “Matilda”, “School of Rock”, “Les Miserables” and “The Lion King” as well as TV series including “The Voice Kids”, “CBBC" and “ITV”. 

She is also a LAMDA coach and her extensive experience on the subject lead her to be invited to write a piece on Choral Speaking which has been published in the LAMDA prospectus.   

Kat has a vast amount of experience teaching children with special educational needs and holds her level 3 Safeguarding and First aid certificates.  

Kat is always on hand to chat to students and parents. She prides herself on knowing every child who attends Freedom Academy personally and says "we are just like one big family!"

Jo trained at Rose Bruford College on the BA (Hons) Actor Musicianship course. She has since worked professionally as an actor, actor-musician and musical director.

Acting credits include: Where Is Peter Rabbit? (Theatre Royal Haymarket & International Tour), Dick Whittington (Theatre Royal Winchester), The Tempest & Red Riding Hood (The Garage/All-In), Alice In Wonderland (Derby Theatre), A Scarecrows Wedding (National Tour), A Midsummer Nights Dream (Red Rose Chain), Gatsby (Union Theatre Southwark), Princess & The Pea (International Tour).

Jo loves spending her Saturday mornings at Freedom Academy & has a subtle mission to remove stress & add smiles to all things singing! She very much enjoys watching the wild & wonderful moments of spontaneity & creativity that fill the space each weekend.

 Rosie is a versatile performer who has trained in all styles of dance from a young age. Starting of doing musical theatre she was involved in classic shows like Annie, Evita UK tour, Joseph, Oliver, Whistle down the wind, Grease to name a few and toured the UK. 

After staring in a TV series and multiple Adverts as a child she decided to take her love for dancing and acting seriously and studied at Rare Studio where she found her love for hip hop and commercial styles. 

Since graduating she has gained multiple credits performing in Live tv shows, catwalks, adverts and music videos these include; SKY TV, ADIDAS X PEPSI MAX, Loreal, BBC WORLDWIDE, Caity Baser, Muller Corner Yogurt and Daniel Donskoy. 

Rosie has also choreographed a number of music videos for professional artists and bands and worked with some of the leading choreographers in the commercial industry. 

Ben is a London based actor. Graduating from drama school in 2023 his most recent work has been performing in ‘The Gruffalo’. 

 Performing from a young age, Ben has a great passion for acting with professional credits in both stage and screen. As well as this, he has found a love for teaching and an excitement to be training the stars of the future. 

Providing them with the tools to not only gain confidence but also encouraging them to creatively explore the power of story telling. Celebrating the individuals in the space, Ben believes that everyone has a voice to be heard.

 Lucy studied Music Performance and Industry as a singer at Trinity Laban Conservatoire, graduating in 2024 with a first. She has since worked as a professional session and backing vocalist performing in venues including the Hammersmith Apollo and the Indigo2. 

Lucy has over 12 years’ performance experience, predominantly in musical theatre before focusing solely on music from the age of 16. She attended Stagecoach Theatre Arts and dance classes from a young age and had the joy of performing in shows including ‘Oliver’ at the Mayflower Theatre Southampton, as well as on many of West End’s stages. 

She has a wide range of teaching experience from baby sensory music lessons to children’s choirs. Lucy has been teaching at Freedom Academy since September 2023 and has absolutely loved her time here. She finds great joy spending her Saturday mornings teaching early years musical theatre and loves watching her students blossom into performers!

Molly’s dance journey truly began when she started at the Brit School back in 2017. From there she went on to professional training at The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts where she studied all styles of dance, musical theatre and aerial. 

Since graduating Molly has worked on various short contemporary film projects, and her breakthrough came in 2023 when she performed at The Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool. She performed behind various artists including Rita Ora and winners of Eurovision 2022, Kalush. 

Molly also works as a Personal Trainer, as well as teaching contemporary, ballet and choreographing for various productions.

 Mentored by Dr Ria Keen, Gareth is an alumnus of The Voice College, specialising in adolescent voices and Alexander Technique.  As a singing teacher, Gareth has clients who are currently performing in the West End and in UK tours

Credits as a musical director include The Witches of Eastwick (Epsom Players); Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Shone Productions – Prince’s Theatre, Clacton); RENT (HMOS); Alice in Pantoland (PLOS); Little Women (Cygnet Players); Cinderella (PLOS); Shrek: The Musical (Cygnet Players); Jekyll and Hyde (Centre Stage London); Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (8218 Theatre); Les Miserables School Edition (Showtime Theatre Arts).

When not teaching singing or conducting shows, Gareth runs Gareth Alber Musical Services, a business that offers bespoke piano tracks for audition preparation, performance and recordings.  Gareth is also a qualified vocal massage therapist, having trained at The Voice Care Centre under Stephen King and Robert Price, specialising in massage and manipulative therapy.

Maria has been teaching drama since graduating with a 2.1 Bachelor of Arts  degree in “English literature and Creative Writing” in 2022. 

At University she  was producing and performing within her own stage plays. Maria made her  acting debut in 2022, starring a lead role in touring pantomime across the  North East of England and has since performed in 5 professional  productions. 

Maria has trained with the ‘Sylvia Young Theatre School’ in a musical theatre course, and with ‘The National Youth Theatre of Great  Britain.’ Recently performing in the Barbican in a musical, Maria is still  working alongside the ‘National Youth Theatre’ in upcoming projects and  hopes to inspire children with the confidence and skills gained. 

Maria has  been involved in drama for over 15 years, and is passionate about the  creative arts, also working as a professional artist and content creator, she also has worked on set design and behind the scenes work too. 

Maria is highly energetic and brings positivity and excitement to the class,  making sure every child feels very valued in class .

 Lynda studied Vocal Performance at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, gaining her Masters in 2010, before studying Opera Performance at the Advanced Performers' Studio in Hammersmith the following year, working with leading directors, coaches and conductors from the world of opera and musical theatre. 

Lynda founded Big Bang Music and More, a teaching studio originally based in Hackbridge, Wallington; teaching voice, piano and general musicianship to students of all ages and backgrounds, and also taught classes to children from birth to 5 years based on the pedagogy of Kodaly. 

A keen choir director, Lynda conducted the choirs of Croydon Music and Arts for their Spring season in 2019, and stepped in for Carshalton Choral Society as an occasional conductor. 

Lynda is a member of Corra Sound, a vocal ensemble championing female composers; and sings regularly with Carshalton Opera, most recently as Papagena in their production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute; and as Sandman and Dew Fairy for Hansel and Gretel. 

Previous roles in opera include Countess Almaviva in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro at RCS; Female Chorus in Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia for St. Andrew’s Opera; Governess in Britten's The Turn of the Screw; and the title role in Donizetti's Anna Bolena. 

Lynda was soprano soloist for The Edinburgh Military Tattoo in 2009, leading the Massed Pipes and Drums. 

Lynda has two young children and a trio of chickens in Caterham, Surrey 

  Lauren trained in Musical Theatre, studying at Reynolds Performing Arts.

 
She has 8 years' experience performing in the UK and overseas in different shows and has taught in a number of different Schools to the ages 3-18, teaching; street dance, ballet, tap, contemporary, gymnastics, yoga, pilates, cheerleading, zumba, singing, drama and musical theatre. 

Lauren is an enthusiastic and positive person, which is reflected in her teaching.  She loves to inspire her students and finds delight in the growing confidence and progression the children display.