Donna Burke

For the American luger, see Donna Burke (luger).

Donna Burke
Born
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia[1]
Occupations
  • Voice actress
  • singer
  • narrator
  • businesswoman
Years active1997–present[2]
SpouseBill Benfield
Musical career
Genres
InstrumentVocals
Years active1987–present
LabelsDag Music
Websitedonnaburke.com

Donna Burke (born 1964[3]) is an Australian actress, singer, and businesswoman. She voiced Angela Orosco in Silent Hill 2 (2001), which is considered one of the greatest games ever made. She also voiced Claudia Wolf in Silent Hill 3 (2003), and has performed songs for the Metal Gear and Final Fantasy video game series.

Biography

Burke graduated from Edith Cowan University. Her education included "operatic voice, speech and drama"[4] and she received classical voice training for ten years.[5]

From 1989 to 1995, Burke taught Media, English and Religious Education to senior students at Chisholm Catholic College. She moved to Japan in 1996 and initially worked as a teacher of English before obtaining some recording work.[4][6]

Burke married Bill Benfield,[when?] a British former teacher. In 2004, Burke and Benfield started a record label, Dagmusic, which catered for foreign artists. Burke released her debut album, Lost and Found, through Dagmusic.[4][7][8]

Burke has worked as a freelance announcer at NHK since 1999. She is also the lyricist for numerous Japanese TV commercials, anime songs and J-pop group tunes.

Burke created Hotteeze in 2004,[9] a company she created to export Japanese heat pads worldwide.

Voice work

Burke's voice has been used in Japan since 2005 for announcements on the Tokaido, Sanyo, and Kyushu Shinkansen bullet train system.[10] Her voice is also used in Narita Airport Delta lounges and in English language guidance for the Emperor Showa Memorial Museum.[citation needed]

In 2007,[citation needed] Burke narrated a documentary titled Climate in Crisis - Part 1, which won the 2007 silver medal for Environment/Ecology at the New York Television Festival and the 2007 Earth Vision Award at the Tokyo Global Environmental Film Festival.

Filmography

Anime

Year Title Role Notes
2000 Strange Dawn Yuko Miyabe [11]
2002 Voices of a Distant Star Operator of the Lysithea [12]
2003 Trip Trek Catherine, Three Bee [12]
2004–present Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha series Raising Heart [13]
2010 Little Charo 2 Kanon [14]
2014–2017 Fastening Days Anna, Kelly (ep. 2) [15]
2016 Princess Sesame Queen [13]
Mainichi Kaasan Grandmother [13]

Video games

Year Title Role Notes
2000 Shenmue Others
2001 Silent Hill 2 Angela Orosco [13]
2001 Virtua Fighter 4 Vanessa Lewis [2]
2002 Shenmue II Additional Voices PC, PS4, Xbox, Xbox One versions
2003 Silent Hill 3 Claudia Wolf Original release only[12]
2003 Dino Crisis 3 Sonya Hart Motion capture
2003 F-Zero GX Mrs. Arrow [12]
2003 Boktai: The Sun Is in Your Hand Hel [12]
2003 Bloody Roar 4 Uranus Credited as Donnna Burke[12]
2004 Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Storytelling Narrator [13]
2004 Boktai 2: Solar Boy Django Lady, Dvalinn [12]
2004 Rumble Roses Anesthesia / Dr. Cutter [12]
2005 Virtua Quest Vanessa Lewis [2][16]
2006 Let's Go Jungle!: Lost on the Island of Spice Norah [13]
2007 Lunar Knights Ursula [12]
2008 Cooking Mama: World Kitchen Boy, Maylee [12]
2010 Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's Portable: The Battle of Aces Raising Heart
2011 Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's Portable: The Gears of Destiny Raising Heart
2012 Lumines Electronic Symphony Announcer [17]
2012 Diabolical Pitch Christina [18]
2014 Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes iDROID [12]
2015 Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain iDROID [12]
2016 NightCry Jessica, Angie, Maria, Kelly [19]
2016 Let It Die Various [13]
2017 Arms Dr. Coyle [20]
2018 Fitness Boxing Laura [21]
2019 Homestar VR Special Edition Narrator [22]
2020 Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Remastered Edition Narrator
2020 Fitness Boxing 2: Rhythm and Exercise Laura [13]
2024 Evotinction Annabel [23]

Solo discography

  • Lost and Found (with Bill Benfield) (2000)[8]
  • Éirí na Gréine (2001)
  • Donna Burke with the David Silverman Quartet (2002)
  • Goodbye Nakamura EP (2004)
  • Blue Nights (1 June 2005)[24]

Other discography

Lyricist

  • Final Fantasy 15 XP - "Choosing Hope" (2017)
  • Implosion - "Way in the Dark" (2015)
  • Resident Evil - "At the End of a Long Escape" (2013)
  • Square Enix DISSIDIA012 - "Final Fantasy" (2011)
  • The Last Ranker - "Born to Survive" (2010)
  • Bandai Games - "God Eater" (2010)
  • NHK Little Charo 2 - "Sayonara" (2010)
  • Capcom - "Bio Hazard Dark Side Chronicles" (Sleeping Beauty) (2009)
  • Capcom - "Last Ranker" (2009)
  • Bandai Namco Games God Eater - "God and Man" (2009)
  • Square Enix Last Remnant - "Journey’s End" (2008)
  • Square Enix Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles - "Moonless Starry Night", "Morning Sky" (2003)
  • Haibanae Renmei - "Wondering" (2007)
  • Konami Elebits - "The Smile Of You" (2006)
  • Konami - "Star Gate Heaven" (2004)

References

  1. ^ "Donna Burke Official About Donna Burke".
  2. ^ a b c Kemps, Heidi (31 December 2014). "Interview: Donna Burke, veteran singer and voice actor". Gaming.moe. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
  3. ^ "The Aussie woman behind the English announcements on Japan's busiest bullet trains". ABC News. 28 October 2024. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
  4. ^ a b c "Donna Burke".
  5. ^ "Japan-Australia Music Artist Exchange in Roppongi". Year of Exchange (Japan Australia Cultural Exchange Association). August 2006. Archived from the original on 24 August 2006. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
  6. ^ a b Nibayashi, Maki. "Life in Japan: Donna Burke". Metropolis (341). Archived from the original on 2 March 2009. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
  7. ^ "Lost and Found – Donna Burke". Allmusic. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
  8. ^ a b Burke, Donna; Benfield, Bill (2000), Lost and Found, Dag Music. National Library of Australia, retrieved 16 January 2014
  9. ^ "About Us – Hotteeze International". hotteeze.com.
  10. ^ Ashcraft, Brian (November 2019). "Metal Gear Singer's Other Gig? The Voice Of The Bullet Train". Kotaku. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
  11. ^ Macdonald, Christopher (6 February 2002). "Strange Dawn - Review - Anime News Network". animenewsnetwork.com. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Donna Burke (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved 27 January 2016. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h "Acting & Narration | Donna Burke". donnaburke.com. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  14. ^ Burke, Donna [@TheDonnaBurke] (1 November 2011). "Tomorrow November 3rd 9.00-9.45 I'll be interviewed on a Channel 3 NHK show about Little Charo 2 my role as Kanon" (Tweet). Retrieved 28 July 2017 – via Twitter.
  15. ^ "YKK presents "FASTENING DAYS"". ykkfastening.com. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  16. ^ "Virtua Quest voice cast". Album on Imgur. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  17. ^ Burke, Donna [@TheDonnaBurke] (25 August 2017). "no hang on I'm confusing this with something else...i have absolutely no memory of recording this but it is definitely me..!" (Tweet). Retrieved 7 September 2017 – via Twitter.
  18. ^ Grasshopper Manufacture. Diabolical Pitch. Microsoft Studios. Scene: Closing credits, Voice Actors.
  19. ^ "English Voice Cast Announced For NightCry ｜ Rely on Horror". Rely on Horror. 30 December 2015. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
  20. ^ Burke, Donna [@TheDonnaBurke] (25 December 2017). ""I'm Unstoppable!" I'm Doctor Coyle!!!! #ARMS #Nintendo #AussieVoiceActress Hope you enjoy it! #soproud #lovemyjob !!!" (Tweet). Retrieved 25 December 2017 – via Twitter.
  21. ^ Burke, Donna [@TheDonnaBurke] (18 December 2018). "I'm in this game! Laura, the Aussie #Fitboxing sensei!" (Tweet). Retrieved 19 December 2018 – via Twitter.
  22. ^ "特別仕様版『ホームスターVR SPECIAL EDITION』 - 株式会社ポケット". pckt.co.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  23. ^ Burke, Donna [@TheDonnaBurke] (12 September 2024). "I'm singing and acting in a new game! "A Normal Life, for #Evotinction, a tactical stealth game from @SpikewaveGames inspired a little bit by @Kojima_Hideo and #MetalGearSolid And voice acting for Annabel. What a thrill!!" (Tweet). Retrieved 13 September 2024 – via Twitter.
  24. ^ "Blue Nights – Donna Burke". Allmusic. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
  25. ^ "METAL GEAR SOLID VOCAL TRACKS". Konami. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
  26. ^ Burke, Donna [@TheDonnaBurke] (8 April 2015). "Donna Burke - Way in the Dark ("Implosion - Never Lose Hope" Theme Song) - Single - (link: https://itun.es/i6L62Xt) itun.es/i6L62Xt #iTunes" (Tweet). Retrieved 28 July 2017 – via Twitter.
  27. ^ "Girls Frontline and Vanguard-sound announcements on Bilibili".