Returning to the VO Atlanta Stage in 2016

I’m honored to announce that I will return to the VO Atlanta stage in 2016 to headline an intimate evening of song alongside my good friends and mentors, Tyrone Jackson & Sam Skelton, who also happen to be two of the best musicians in Atlanta. You are in for a treat, VO Atlanta 2016! I’ll feature some of my album favorites & serve up some special new arrangements for our VO Atlanta 2016 performance on March 5th @ 6pm. Subscribe to my YouTube channel for more upcoming live concert releases on my new #NazLive series.

Nazia Chaudhry, Sam Skelton, and Tyrone Jackson.

My career as a voiceover talent, actor, vocalist and coach had never been so closely intertwined until I began attending VO Atlanta a few years ago. When I moved to Atlanta in 2011, I searched for a MeetUp group similar to the Dallas voiceover meet up led by engineering extrordinaire, Cliff Zelmann. I found VoiceoverCity run by an Atlanta voiceover enthusiast named Gerald Griffith! I told him about Cliff and how awesome the group was & I was glad to find a group of voiceover peeps to stay motivated while I got my career back up and running in Atlanta since moving from the Dallas market. I continued to attend meetups when I could between graduate school and my continued work as an actor, singer, voiceover talent, and coach. A few years later, Gerald created VO Atlanta.

I started attending VO Atlanta since the first conference in 2013. I ended up being VO Atlanta’s first voiceover contest grand-prize winner. Actually, I ended up submitting my recording a couple minutes before the deadline. I debated on whether to attend the conference because I was so busy adjusting to motherhood. My daughter was only 4 months old at the time of the conference. I had never left my daughter’s side for longer than a few hours since she was born, and I was in the midst of completing the final semesters of my master’s degree. I entered this contest as a jumpstart to get back to my career with some recording new gear after having my daughter. My husband had lost his job right before Rania was born in November 2012 and it was tough to justify spending money on new equipment. I was grateful to win, as my career began to get back on track after becoming a first-time mom.

There was also a bundle of VO webinars and coaching included in this package by Edge Studio, who has sponsored VO Atlanta since 2013.  A couple months had passed & I finally emailed David Goldberg, the CEO, to see how I could sign up for the Edge Studio webinars. He later sent me an email that he reviewed my website and credentials & saw that I also coached students in voiceover, acting, and singing. David was looking for an Atlanta voice coach & offered me an independent contract with Edge to coach their voiceover students online & in Atlanta. It was a great opportunity since I had to pull back on my in-studio private coaching when my daughter was born. I mostly was teaching my own private students online anyway, so it was a great fit. It is a pleasure to be affiliated as a coach with Edge Studio amongst my esteemed voiceover colleagues in addition to continuing to coach my own private students.

Gerald called me the following year to perform for the VO Atlanta 2014 opening reception, prior to the release of my debut album last year, which hit #1 on CMJ Top Jazz Adds Chart & #36 on CMJ Top 40 Jazz Charts in it’s radio debut this year! In fact, I was offered an official partnership with Sennheiser/Neumann covering both my voiceover and music career by Christopher Currier from that very performance at VO Atlanta 2014. Sennheiser/Neumann is a long-time sponsor of the VO Atlanta conference and I am proud to have their support as I continue my journey through my career in music and voiceover. Sennheiser/Neumann has gone on to offer assistance in from providing microphones for my album release concerts to hosting giveaways and helping me with artist exposure. In 2012, I won a ticket through Gerald’s organization, VoiceoverCity, to attend That’s Voiceover in Chicago, which is where I first met Christopher. Until I performed at VO Atlanta 2014, Christopher had no idea I was a musician and singer in addition to being a voice actor.

Also at VO Atlanta 2014, I signed up for a workshop with Celia Siegel of CSM. After speaking with Christopher at Sennheiser, I realized the significance of beginning a partnership with a very well-respected, global brand such as Sennheiser/Neumann. My meeting with Celia then became a crucial point in my career to begin finally combining the different facets of my career into a branding strategy of my own. Without Celia’s help, I would not have my site re-branded in time to launch my debut album release. She also helped me to add a few more VO agents to my corner as well. In 2014 and 2015, I began booking more national campaigns & adding to my client roster in voiceover as well. Attending VO Atlanta 2015 was an opportunity to relax after a year of promoting my album, catch up with friends, keep my skills sharp through VO Atlanta’s X-Sessions, and to stay motivated as I was building my brand, taking on new clients and opportunities, as well as setting up for my new Youtube adventure with #nazLive.

As for Sam & Tyrone, who you will meet at VO Atlanta 2016…Tyrone Jackson was the very first musician friend I met when we attended graduate school together at GSU. He has been my first call pianist ever since and of course, he performed with me at VO Atlanta 2014. I met Sam through Tyrone when he played for my graduate recital in 2013. If you know Sam Skelton’s credentials, you will know why I was so nervous to meet him. Since then, Sam has been one of my biggest musical supporters in Atlanta, allowing me opportunities to perform with him at Smithgall Arts Center and twice he invited me to sing with Georgia Symphony Orchestra Jazz, where I helped to host a Sennheiser headphone giveaway in March 2015 as my special thank you to the board at GSO. These two have been there with me from the beginning of my music career in Atlanta since my move in 2011, which makes this upcoming performance at VO Atlanta 2016 so much more special for me.

Thank you Gerald, Christopher, Sam, Tyrone, David, Celia, & Cliff for being a part of my journey through these amazing opportunities over the last few years. Also special thank you to Scott Fugate & Fountaine Lewis Photography for your support and help to document my Atlanta music journey. Thanks #TeamNaz & to all those I haven’t had a chance to mention ;) It is your help and kindness that drives me to elevate myself in all aspects of my life, and pay it forward with my gratitude to you and to those who surround & support me in return. The theme at VO Atlanta 2016 is “Elevate,” and I hope to continue to elevate and inspire others to take a leap of faith toward their goals. You never know what can happen if you take even a small step like I did, even if you doubt yourself like I sometimes do. Others just as kind will recognize special things in you and help to elevate you. Can’t wait to see everyone at VO Atlanta 2016!