Karen Jacobsen

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Karen Jacobsen
Karen Jacobsen - Smaller.jpg
Born
Karen Elisabeth Jacobsen

Mackay, Queensland, Australia
NationalityAustralian
Occupation
  • Entertainer
  • singer
  • motivational speaker
  • voice over artist
  • songwriter
Known forVoice of Siri
Notable work
soundtrack for Dawsons Creek

Karen Elisabeth Jacobsen is an Australia-born and New York-based entertainer, singer, motivational speaker, voice-over artist and songwriter.

Early life and career[]

Born in Mackay, Queensland, Australia and writing songs from the age of seven, Jacobsen was inspired to be a professional singer by her idol Olivia Newton-John.[1] She graduated from the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University majoring in voice and piano, winning the Jazz Prize and completing her A.Mus.A. on piano.

Singing with the Queensland Youth Choir and being awarded the Warana Young Performer of the Year, she moved to Sydney making her musical theatre debut in the original Australian cast of Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story. She performed regularly on Australian television including Good Morning Australia and I Do I Do and her speaking and singing voices have been used on thousands of commercials for television, radio and online.

On 4 July 2000, she relocated to New York City,[2][3][4] writing and recording songs, and releasing nine CDs on her independent label Kurly Queen.[5][6]

Her songs have been on soundtracks for Dawson's Creek[7] and the NBC show Passions and she has shared the stage with Christopher Cross, Neil Sedaka, Norah Jones, Cyndi Lauper, Spyro Gyra, Deborah Cox and Rachael Sage.[8][9][10][11] She has written or recorded with Grammy Award winner Andy Zulla, Tony Award winner David Zippel, ARIA Award winner Sean O'Boyle and Emmy Award nominee Amy Powers.

International career[]

In 2002, Jacobsen's speaking voice was chosen as one of the Australian English options for the text-to-speech system used in GPS[12] units for Garmin, Navman, TomTom[13] and Mio and in telephone and computer software systems. Karen has been dubbed by ABC News[14] and CBS News as 'The Dashboard Diva'[15] and by the Gold Coast Bulletin as 'Gadget Girl'.[16]

She created the empowerment brand 'The GPS Girl'[17] and in speaking engagements[18] and performances shares the five directions for Recalculating,[19][20][21] how to 'Recalculate' in Business and Life and 'The GPS Girl's Top Ten Directions for Life'[22] and filmed the pilot of television show, 'Travel the World with The GPS Girl'.[23]

From 2011 to 2014, Jacobsen's voice was used as the original female Australian voice of the Siri application on Apple iPhones, iPods and iPads.[24][25]

Jacobsen was President of the New York Chapter of the National Speakers Association (2015) and performed on the main stage of the national conference singing The Star Spangled Banner and for the NSA Youth Convention in San Diego (2014). She served on the Board of Directors of the National Speakers Association, as Secretary (2017/2018/2019) [26]

She has appeared as Keynote Speaker [27] and Concert Performer at the Global Speakers Summit[28] in Vancouver in 2013, the World Meetings Forum[29] in Cancun (2014), the World Contact Forum in Mexico City (2014), the Australian Asphalt Pavement Association[30] conference (2015) Gold Coast, Australian National Association of Teachers of Singing conference[31] (2015) Tasmania and at TEDxTraverseCity. Karen was the closing keynote speaker at Project Management Institute's Symposium in Singapore,[32] and on corporate day at the Global Speakers Summit in Auckland, NZ (2018) [33]

Karen has performed her one-woman show at the piano at Off-Broadway theaters Stage 72 at The Triad,[34][35] The Laurie Beechman Theatre[36] and Joe's Pub at The Public Theater, The Duplex[37] and The Bitter End.

Jacobsen has published two books, Recalculate - Directions for Driving Performance Success (2015) and The GPS Girl's Road Map for Your Future (2011).[38]

Her music and original songs have been recorded and released through Kurly Queen Records including By Request (1993), Strong Woman (1996), As I Am (2000), Being Brave (2002), Here In My Heart (2004), Kissing Someone Else (2007),[39] Melting Moments,[40] (Australia only 2009), Fun, Fun, Fun, Fun, Fun, Fun with Supa K with Supa K with Emmy Award-winning composer Michael Whalen (2011), Take a Little Drive (2013),[41] Destination Christmas (2015) and her 10th studio album Ready For What I Came Here For (2021).[42][43]

On Christmas Eve 2015, Jacobsen performed Hark the Herald Angels Sing[44] on the live telecast of the Vision Australia Carols by Candlelight[45][46][47] at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne, Australia. The 78th annual concert was attended by 12 000 people and viewed by over 2.7 million on the Nine Network across Australia, New Zealand and Asia.

Chosen to sing national anthems at major sporting events in both the United States and Australia, she performed Advance Australia Fair at the State of Origin Rugby League game in June, 2016 for a capacity crowd of 52,000 at Suncorp Stadium Lang Park in Queensland.[48][49]

In November 2017, Jacobsen performed an arrangement of “America, the Beautiful” with the High Point University Chamber Singers at HPU's annual Veterans Day Celebration.[50]

Jacobsen served as High Point University's Global Artist in Residence, working with and mentoring students.

In 2020 due to the pandemic, Jacobsen left her New York home of 20 yrs for Queensland, Australia, subsequently arriving in Airlie Beach in the Whitsundays, Queensland. As Destination Ambassador she has been shining a light on the region through media appearances and her original music, videos and performances.[51][52]

2020 saw the premiere of Karen's original musical memoir Mackay to Manhattan at the MECC in Mackay, Queensland.

In 2021 Karen gave the finale performance to a sold out audience at the Whitsundays Arts Festival.[53]

Charitable[]

Traveling to Lusaka, Zambia in 2006 to meet her sponsored child,[54] Jacobsen raised awareness of the benefits of child sponsorship as an advocate for Children International. She started a group called To Zambia With Love to support the work of Children International and encouraged others to sponsor children.

In 2010, she was invited to become an Ambassador for Dress for Success speaking for a number of Professional Women's Groups in New York and at events in Brisbane, Australia.

In 2014 and 2015 she was the keynote speaker for EYO,[55] an AAUW event for young women.

In 2015 she partnered with Careflight (now LifeFlight) Helicopters and Mackay CQ Rescue[56] in Queensland, Australia speaking and singing at a series of events to raise awareness and funds for their lifesaving work.

In 2018 Karen narrated the Audio Book of the eLit International Award-winning book Broken to Brilliant - Breaking Free to be You After Domestic Violence, with anonymous stories from ten women. Funds raised from sales support programs for survivors mentoring survivors creating a new chapter in their lives. The official launch was in Brisbane in March, 2018, and Karen is the International Patron of Broken to Brilliant.[57]

Awards[]

Family[]

Jacobsen has a son who, she says, recognised her voice as that of Siri, saying "I wonder if he thinks everyone's mummy is in their iPhone.".[1]

References[]

  1. ^ a b Appel, Greg. "Meet the voice of Apple's Siri, Karen Jacobsen". ABC Radio National. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 22 November 2015. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
  2. ^ "Property Tales". Nypress.com. Archived from the original on 1 June 2014. Retrieved 16 March 2011.
  3. ^ "Australian Karen Jacobsen, navigator voice for the Garmin GPS, joins the Manhattan cabaret". Nydailynews.com. 11 November 2010. Archived from the original on 14 November 2010. Retrieved 16 March 2011.
  4. ^ "Karen Jacobsen". Indie Ezine. 26 July 2007. Archived from the original on 13 July 2011. Retrieved 16 March 2011.
  5. ^ "'GPS Girl' Karen Jacobsen Steers Herself Toward Singing". Myfoxla.com. 14 July 2010. Archived from the original on 21 March 2012. Retrieved 16 March 2011.
  6. ^ Jennifer Merin (19 January 2005). "Property Tales". Manhattan Media. pp. volume 17, issue 51. She's also established her own publishing company, Kurly Queen
  7. ^ "Songs". Thevisionmovie.com. 19 March 2009. Archived from the original on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 16 March 2011.
  8. ^ "Meet the face behind the voice of your GPS". Brisbanetimes.com.au. Archived from the original on 1 April 2010. Retrieved 16 March 2011.
  9. ^ Jess Perriam (3 March 2010). "Telling you where to go – ABC Perth – Australian Broadcasting Corporation". Abc.net.au. Archived from the original on 11 November 2012. Retrieved 16 March 2011.
  10. ^ Hinchliffe, Mark (2 March 2010). "GPS Girl has singing cure for road rage". Courier Mail. Archived from the original on 31 March 2012. Retrieved 16 March 2011.
  11. ^ "Google Image Result for media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2008/08/04/PH2008080402505.jpg". Retrieved 16 March 2011.
  12. ^ Finan, Kristin (19 February 2009). "Meet the voice of GPS – and she's good with directions". Chron.com. Archived from the original on 13 December 2010. Retrieved 16 March 2011.
  13. ^ David Moye Contributor (12 July 2010). "'GPS Girl' Karen Jacobsen Directs Herself Toward Singing Career". Aolnews.com. Archived from the original on 22 July 2010. Retrieved 16 March 2011. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  14. ^ "The Dashboard Diva Sings in Person – ABC News". Abcnews.go.com. 21 November 2010. Retrieved 16 March 2011.
  15. ^ "The Voice of GPS Turns to Music". YouTube. Archived from the original on 6 May 2016. Retrieved 16 March 2011.
  16. ^ "The woman who voices Siri gives directions to 100 million people, but got lost on Gold Coast". GoldCoastBulletin. Archived from the original on 29 October 2015. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  17. ^ "The New York Times". Archived from the original on 21 April 2015.
  18. ^ "Institute of Hospital Engineering Australia 60th National Conference 2009". Iceberg Events. 12 September 2009. Archived from the original on 27 February 2011. Retrieved 16 March 2011.
  19. ^ "Australia's GPS Girl becomes a cabaret singer". YouTube. 21 January 2010. Archived from the original on 7 April 2016. Retrieved 16 March 2011.
  20. ^ "Cabaret Scenes Review – Karen Jacobson". Cabaretscenes.org. 16 November 2010. Archived from the original on 25 July 2011. Retrieved 16 March 2011.
  21. ^ Feiler, Bruce (25 June 2010). "Turn Right, My Love". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 12 June 2017.
  22. ^ McCabe, Kathy (21 August 2009). "Karen Jacobsen helps us in the right direction". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 21 September 2012. Retrieved 16 March 2011.
  23. ^ "HOME". To Zambia With Love. Archived from the original on 7 February 2011. Retrieved 16 March 2011.
  24. ^ "First listen: New 'natural-sounding' Siri voices for the U.K., Australia, and Japan". iphone.appleinsider.com. Archived from the original on 10 September 2015. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
  25. ^ "The women (and man) behind Siri". Stuff. 13 August 2015. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
  26. ^ "Board of Directors - National Speakers Association". Archived from the original on 11 October 2017. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
  27. ^ "Keynote Speaker at SoTechI Series in Ipswich Australia". Archived from the original on 27 December 2015.
  28. ^ "Karen Jacobsen Sings "Nobody Does It Better" at the President's Ball - GSS 2013 thegpsgirl.com | itimes". itimes.com. Archived from the original on 5 January 2016. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  29. ^ "What Event Speakers Wish Planners Knew: Branding, Professionalism and Partnerships". internationalmeetingsreview.com. Archived from the original on 28 October 2015. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  30. ^ "About the conference - AAPA - Australian Asphalt Pavement Association". www.aapa.asn.au. Archived from the original on 5 January 2016. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  31. ^ "Siri navigates her way to Hobart". Mercury. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  32. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 27 April 2018. Retrieved 26 April 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  33. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 27 April 2018. Retrieved 26 April 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  34. ^ "Review: Karen Jacobsen at Stage 72 - StageBuddy.com". StageBuddy.com. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  35. ^ "Lively Arts - Theatre". lively-arts.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  36. ^ "GPS-voice star: Turn here to see me sing". NY Daily News. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  37. ^ "Karen Jacobsen Performs Stripped Down At The Duplex". Top40-Charts.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  38. ^ "Positive speaker: Karen Jacobsen". BRW. Archived from the original on 14 October 2012. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  39. ^ "Indie-Music.com review". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
  40. ^ "Sounds of Oz - Melting Moments Review". Archived from the original on 27 December 2015.
  41. ^ "Sydney Morning Herald". Archived from the original on 16 August 2016.
  42. ^ "TODAY Show Australia". Archived from the original on 27 December 2015.
  43. ^ "2DayFM". Archived from the original on 5 January 2016.
  44. ^ "Thousands Gather at Sidney Myer Music Bowl".
  45. ^ "Carols by Candlelight". The Daily Mercury. Archived from the original on 5 January 2016.
  46. ^ "Toowoomba Chronicle". Archived from the original on 30 December 2015.
  47. ^ Te Koha, Nui (20 November 2015). "Herald Sun". Herald Sun. heraldsun.com.au.
  48. ^ "Karen Jacobsen Belted Out the National Anthem". 22 June 2016. Archived from the original on 25 June 2016.
  49. ^ "National Anthem at State of Origin". Archived from the original on 25 June 2016.
  50. ^ "HPU Honors Hundreds of Veterans During Veterans Day Celebration". High Point University. Archived from the original on 2 December 2017. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  51. ^ https://www.tourismwhitsundays.com.au/meet-karen/
  52. ^ https://www.couriermail.com.au/entertainment/confidential/voice-of-siri-karen-jacobsen-releases-new-album-with-ode-to-hayman-island/news-story/02c62c4178c551743ca8d1cec9ed8c68[bare URL]
  53. ^ https://www.whitsundaysartsfestival.org/karen-jacobsen
  54. ^ "Yamaha Institutional and Commercial Services Department Provides Portable Grand Piano "To Zambia with Love"". usa.yamaha.com. Archived from the original on 3 July 2016. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  55. ^ "For Blue Mountain Girls, "The Sky's the Limit"". Peekskill-Cortlandt, NY Patch. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  56. ^ "Meet the Mum behind the Voice of SIRIPakmag". www.pakmag.com.au. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  57. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 7 May 2018. Retrieved 26 April 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

External links[]

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