Maureen Lenker

Voice Description

My voice naturally has a lower pitch to it, making it quite versatile. I can easily sound eloquent and professional for presentations, as well as bubbly and fun for commercials. Additionally, my voice can sound warm and inviting for narration, etc.

While I feel my deeper voice lends itself well to a professional tone, I also specialize in character voices. I can portray a wide variety of characters/ages, as well as speak with many dialects. My voice is quite versatile, as I love to portray a wacky variety of characters, but am also quite good at giving a straight and smooth reading for narrative, professional, or commercial purposes.

Voice Genders and "Ages" I Can Perform

• Child
• Teenage Girl
• Young Adult Female
• Senior Female

Language(s) of Which I Am a Native Speaker:

• English - British
• English - North American

I Offer my Services for these Recording Purposes

• Commercials
• Promos
• IVR, voicemail, phone systems, and on-hold messages
• Training, business presentations, sales, and web sites
• Audiobooks
• Videogames
• Documentaries
• TV shows and movies
• Movie and game trailers
• Podcasts
• Songs
• Others (on-camera, infomercials, live announcers, spokespersons)

Jobs I Am Willing to Take (Union-wise)

• Non-Union Jobs

• Jobs for ACTRA (Canada) signatories

• Jobs for AFTRA (US) signatories

• Jobs for British Equity signatories

• Jobs for SAG (US) signatories

• Jobs for Union des Artistes (Canada) signatories

My Union Affiliations and Memberships

None

My Recording and Delivery Capabilities

• I will go to any designated studio in my area
• I can record and then deliver the audio files via Email

Pre-, Post- and Production Services I Offer

• I can deliver edited and finished voice tracks

My Home Base

Rancho Palos Verdes, California, United States

Accents, Impersonations, Characters and Dialects

British (RP, Cockney, Upper-crust as well as Lower-Class, Small Children to Old Women.I perform a wide variety of British dialects for all class and age ranges)

New York (Brooklyn/Queens Can sound both like Adelaide from "Guys and Dolls" or a mob wife/gangster's moll, what could be called an "Italian New York" accent)

New Jersey, Southern (both Southern Belle [Scarlett O'Hara/Blanche DuBois-esque] and more backwoods hick sounding),

Jewish (esp. a Jewish mother/housewife), Irish Brogue, French (esp. French maid), Russian (Dowager Empress or Soviet Spy), Chicago, Valley Girl/Ditzy airhead voices, Cheerleader,

A variety of nasally character voices (nerd-sounding) and characters with speech impediments (lisp, high-pitched intonation, nasal drip, etc.), Nervous-sounding, ocd characters, Small Children, Teenage Girls, Mannish voice (sounds more like older man) and can imitate Tony Curtis from "Some Like It Hot"

Variety of normal commercial voices: informative, smooth voice, calming/relaxing, informed housewife, narrator, etc.

My Voice Experience

In 2000, I began my voice-over career at the age of 10, recording the speaking and singing voice of the Archangel Gabriel for a children's musical "Archangel Gabriel's Awesome Adventure" by Beth Merrill and Allan Robert Petker. This was recorded for and published by the Fred Bock Music Company. This recording was made into a CD and sold with the play as a sample for schools, churches, etc. to use when putting together their productions. The CD included both the recorded songs, as well as all of the recorded dialogue from the play itself. That was my first professional job. Since then, I have done a variety of voice-work in school and community productions, playing a radio announcer in a production of "Annie" and a variety of other characters in a multitude of productions (Bunny in "House of Blue Leaves," Mrs. Harcourt in "Anything Goes," etc.).

Now completing my studies in Cinematic Arts, History, and Theater at the University of Southern California, I learned an extensive amount in a voice-over acting course I took at the university in the spring of my junior year with sound designer Phillip Allen and voice-over artist Vicki Lewis (Voice of Flo/Deb in "Finding Nemo" and many other characters). Phil taught us how to create our own recording studios within our homes, as well as how to edit the files we recorded. Vicki coached us in vocal performance and character development. Each week in class, we got to spend time in an actual recording studio crafting our voice-over reels and developing a wealth of characters. Outside of the studio, we learned how to edit our work in Audacity. Taking the immense amount I learned in this course, I am now hoping to return to the world of professional voice-over recording that I got a taste of when I was younger.

My Training

University of Southern California: 2007-2011

Voice-Over Acting Spring 2010 with Phil Allen and Vicki Lewis: The course covered an introduction to the basics of sound, studio recording technique, and at-home recording technique. In regards to acting, we discussed techniques for and recorded material for Narration, Character Radio, Children's Animation, and Primetime Animation.

Cinematic Arts Major (In a production class, I frequently worked with sound in the editing lab, specifically using AVID. Additionally, I had to record a lot of in-camera voice-over and ADR for various characters)

Theatre Minor (A variety of different acting training courses throughout my time at the University)

Midsummer in Oxford Shakespeare Program at the British American Dramatic Academy (July 2009)

Involved in Drama/Theatre Productions at school or in my community every year since second grade (including a spring musical every year from 6th to 12th grade)

Eight Years of Piano Lessons

My Studio Equipment

Currently in the Process of Acquiring a Higher-Grade Microphone (At this time, only using the microphone built-in to the computer).

I edit all of my work with Audacity and can convert it to AIFF, wav, mp3, etc. using this software.

Additional Skills

Just that I consider myself very versatile and am always eager to develop/find new characters/voices. I am open to pretty much anything whether it be an outlandish character, professional presentation, commercial, or narration. Looking forward to helping you all with your voice-over needs!

Payment Methods Accepted

• Personal checks, cashier's checks, or money orders in my local currency

Contact Information

To contact Maureen Lenker by email or phone, please click here.