Karen Jacobsen

Karen Elisabeth Jacobsen is an Australian born and New York based entertainer, singer, motivational speaker, voiceover artist and songwriter.

Karen Jacobsen
Born
Karen Elisabeth Jacobsen

Mackay, Queensland, Australia
NationalityAustralian
Occupations
  • Entertainer
  • singer
  • motivational speaker
  • voice over artist
  • songwriter
Known forVoice of Siri and Google Maps
Notable workSoundtrack for Dawsons Creek

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.

International career

On 4 July 2000, she relocated to New York City,[2][3][4] writing and recording songs, and has since released ten albums 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, Emmy Award nominee Amy Powers and Grammy Award nominee Nicole Zuraitis.

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. Jacobsen 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 to 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]

Jacobsen has performed her one woman show at the piano at off Broadway theatres Stage 72 at The Triad,[34][35] The Laurie Beechman Theatre[36] and Joe's Pub at The Public Theatre, 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)[42] Ready For What I Came Here For (2021)[43][44] and the forthcoming album The Slipstream.

On Christmas Eve 2015, Jacobsen performed Hark the Herald Angels Sing[45] on the live telecast of the Vision Australia Carols by Candlelight[46][47][48] at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne, Australia.

She performed Advance Australia Fair at the State of Origin Rugby League game on 22 June 2016 for a capacity crowd of 52,000 at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.[49][50]

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.[51]

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

Return to Australia

In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Jacobsen left her New York home of 20 years for Queensland, Australia, subsequently arriving in Airlie Beach in the Whitsundays, Queensland. As official Destination Ambassador she has been promoting the region through media appearances, advertising campaigns and her original music, videos and performances.[52][53]

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

To commemorate the 10th anniversary of former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard's iconic misogyny speech, Jacobsen set the speech to music word for word. The 'Misogyny Opus' is a one hour pop orchestral work, with the first section released in October 2022 with a music video including 70 equality advocates from around the world. As composer for the piece, Jacobsen recorded a full album and tour to spark conversation and empower a 'wave of equality.' [54]"Now Karen Jacobsen, the original voice of the GPS has written this classical music masterpiece."[55]"One Australian artist has gone a step further, giving the speech a glow-up into a Disney musical worthy tune by Queensland recording artist, Karen Jacobsen" [56][57][58]

As co-founder of the Whitsundays Songwriter Festival, the inaugural event took place in September 2022 with a professional songwriter residency including Graeme Connors Tia Gostelow Leanne Tennant (LT) Bryce Sainty and co-founder Francesca de Valence at Yangaro in Funnel Bay near Airlie Beach in Queensland, Australia. Designed to create opportunities for regionally based Songwriters and to establish a world class songwriter presence in the area, the whitsongfest is part of the Whitsundays Arts Festival.[59][60]

Charitable

Traveling to Lusaka, Zambia in 2006 to meet her sponsored child,[61] 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 2014 and 2015, she was the keynote speaker for EYO,[62] an AAUW event for young women.

In 2015, she partnered with Careflight (now LifeFlight) Helicopters and Mackay CQ Rescue[63] in Queensland, Australia speaking and singing at a series of events to raise awareness and funds for their lifesaving work.

In 2018, she 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 she is the International Patron of Broken to Brilliant.[64]

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. Appel, Greg (4 April 2014). "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". The Vision Movie. 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. 26 February 2010. 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 News. 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. Moye, David (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.
  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". Gold Coast Bulletin. Archived from the original on 29 October 2015. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  17. Green, Penelope (15 April 2015). "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. "Overview". Archived from the original on 27 April 2018. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
  33. "Program – Global Speakers Summit". Archived from the original on 27 April 2018. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
  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". 21 August 2009. Archived from the original on 27 December 2015.
  41. "Sydney Morning Herald". 13 August 2010. Archived from the original on 16 August 2016.
  42. "Meet the woman behind Siri". The Australian.
  43. "TODAY Show Australia". Archived from the original on 27 December 2015.
  44. "2DayFM". Archived from the original on 5 January 2016.
  45. "Thousands Gather at Sidney Myer Music Bowl".
  46. "Carols by Candlelight". The Daily Mercury. Archived from the original on 5 January 2016.
  47. "Toowoomba Chronicle". Archived from the original on 30 December 2015.
  48. Te Koha, Nui (20 November 2015). "Herald Sun". Herald Sun. heraldsun.com.au.
  49. "Karen Jacobsen Belted Out the National Anthem". 22 June 2016. Archived from the original on 25 June 2016.
  50. "National Anthem at State of Origin". Archived from the original on 25 June 2016.
  51. "HPU Honors Hundreds of Veterans During Veterans Day Celebration". High Point University. Archived from the original on 2 December 2017. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  52. "Meet Karen". Tourism Whitsundays.
  53. "Hey Siri, what are you doing on Hayman Island?". The Courier Mail.
  54. "The Misogyny Speech Opus by Karen Jacobsen (the Aussie Voice of Siri) and the Lane Cove Connection". In The Cove. 5 October 2022.
  55. "News Interview on National Australian TV 8 October 2022 Misogyny Opus – Karen Jacobsen". YouTube.
  56. Cordwell, Jessica (8 October 2022). "10 years since Julia Gillard's misogyny speech". Canberra Weekly. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  57. Johnson, Chris. "'Misogyny Opus' marks a decade of the speech that rocked the world". Riotact. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  58. Barker, Jacky (5 October 2022). "The Misogyny Speech Opus by Karen Jacobsen (the Aussie Voice of Siri) and the Lane Cove Connection". In the Cove. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  59. "Songwriter Festival Reaches A High Note". www.mackayandwhitsundaylife.com. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  60. "Inaugural Whitsundays Songwriter Festival & Residency". Ray White Whitsunday. 7 September 2022. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  61. "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.
  62. "For Blue Mountain Girls, "The Sky's the Limit"". Peekskill-Cortlandt, NY Patch. 26 March 2015. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  63. "Meet the Mum behind the Voice of SIRIPakmag". www.pakmag.com.au. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  64. "Meet the woman whose voice is on over a billion devices". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 3 March 2018. Archived from the original on 7 May 2018. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
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