1. Karen Jacobsen is an Australian-born New York-based entertainer, singer, motivational speaker, voiceover artist, and songwriter.
20 Facts About Karen Jacobsen
1. 2.
Karen Jacobsen started writing songs at the age of seven, and was inspired to be a professional singer by her idol Olivia Newton-John.
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Karen Jacobsen graduated from the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University, studying jazz in the late 1980s and earning an Associate Diploma of Music.
4.
Karen Jacobsen's songs have been on soundtracks for Dawson's Creek and the NBC show Passions, and she has shared the stage with Christopher Cross, Neil Sedaka, Norah Jones, Cyndi Lauper, Spyro Gyra, Deborah Cox, Jars of Clay, Three Dog Night, and Rachael Sage.
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Karen Jacobsen has written or recorded with Andy Zulla, David Zippel, Sean O'Boyle, Amy Powers, and Nicole Zuraitis.
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Karen Jacobsen has been dubbed by ABC News and CBS News as 'The Dashboard Diva' and by the Gold Coast Bulletin as 'Gadget Girl'.
7.
From 2011 to 2014, Karen Jacobsen's voice was used as the original female Australian voice of the Siri application on Apple iPhones, iPods and iPads.
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Karen Jacobsen was president of the New York Chapter of the National Speakers Association in 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 in 2014.
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Karen Jacobsen served on the board of directors of the National Speakers Association, as Secretary.
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Karen Jacobsen has appeared as keynote speaker and concert performer at the Global Speakers Summit in Vancouver in 2013, the World Meetings Forum in Cancun, the World Contact Forum in Mexico City, the Australian Asphalt Pavement Association conference Gold Coast, Australian National Association of Teachers of Singing conference Tasmania and at TEDxTraverseCity.
11.
Karen Jacobsen was the closing keynote speaker at Project Management Institute's Symposium in Singapore, and on corporate day at the Global Speakers Summit in Auckland, New Zealand in 2018.
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In New York Karen Jacobsen performed her one-woman show at the piano at off-Broadway theatres Stage 72 at The Triad, the Laurie Beechman Theatre, and Joe's Pub at the Public Theatre, The Duplex, and The Bitter End.
13.
Karen Jacobsen 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.
14.
In November 2017, Karen Jacobsen performed an arrangement of "America the Beautiful" with the High Point University Chamber Singers at HPU's annual Veterans Day Celebration.
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Karen Jacobsen was appointed as a "Global Artist in Residence" at High Point University in December 2017.
16.
In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Karen Jacobsen left her New York home of 20 years for Queensland and moved to Airlie Beach in the Whitsundays, Queensland.
17.
Karen Jacobsen is co-founder of the Whitsundays Songwriter Festival, with the inaugural event taking place in September 2022 with a professional songwriter residency that included Graeme Connors, Tia Gostelow, Leanne Tennant, Bryce Sainty, and co-founder Francesca de Valence in Funnel Bay, near Airlie Beach.
18.
Karen Jacobsen travelled to Lusaka, Zambia, in 2006 to meet her sponsored child.
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Karen Jacobsen took part in the charity documentary film To Zambia With Love, along with Tom Hudak and Neil Gordon.
20.
Karen Jacobsen is the international patron of Broken to Brilliant.