Pentatonix a "brief" background. They won The Sing Off in 2011. They made a guest starring appearance on America′s Got Talent as non−competitors a couple of years after that. The founding members are:- Scott Hoying (tall blond guy, natural baritone but has an impressive five−to−six octave range, can go all the way up to high tenor and down to bass, sings the bass lines when the usual bass singer takes the lead);
Kirstin "Kirstie" (Rhymes with "Thirsty") Maldonado (the only female member, natural mezzo soprano, but can go down to low alto and as high as upper soprano, also can sing in whistle notes that are off the scale); For a time in 2018 between the group’s tours, had the female lead on Broadway in the production of “Kinky Boots”. Mitch Grassi (a true contra−tenor, can hit high notes in his chest voice with ease and go WAY higher in his falsetto, also with ease); Avriel "Avi" Kaplan (dark beard and long hair), true basso profundo, trained as an opera singer, also can go up into the tenor range; and Kevin "KO" Olusola (beatboxer extraordinaire, also is a world−class cellist who plays cello on some of their songs, has a beautiful high tenor voice and gets occasional lead vocal solos as well, graduated pre−med from Yale and speaks several languages including Mandarin Chinese). Kirstie, Scott & Mitch grew up together in Arlington, Texas, and began performing together as children in local youth musical theater. They ended up in high school together and performed in the choir. While there, they formed an a cappella group called The Trio which had several performance videos go viral on UA-cam, most notably a cover of Lady Gaga′s "Telephone". The three of them are best friends and consider themselves to be almost siblings. Scott & Kirstie (who were a class year ahead of Mitch) both graduated high school in 2010 and went their separate ways to different colleges, Scott at USC and Kirstie at Oklahoma. While at USC, Scott joined a USC−based a cappella group called the SoCal VoCals, where he met alumnus Ben Bram, who was now an arranger and vocal coach for the NBC TV show The Sing Off, an a cappella competition show. Ben convinced Scott to get The Trio to audition for the show. The three reunited (Mitch had to skip high school graduation ceremonies to go) in Los Angeles for the audition. They found out that the rules had changed, so they needed at least five members to audition. Ben put them together with Avi (a native of Visalia, California), who he knew from Avi′s performing days at Mount San Antonio College in California. They found Kevin (from Kentucky) through one of his UA-cam videos that had gone viral featuring him playing the cello and beatboxing at the same time, a talent that Kevin coined as "Cello−Boxing". Kevin arrived in Los Angeles literally the day before the audition! Scott came up with the name "Pentatonix" after the pentatonic scale. They performed a re−arrangement of "The Telephone" for the audition and passed, despite having been together as a five−piece group for less that 24 hours! They won The Sing Off that season (all of the performances are available on UA-cam), in which they received a substantial cash prize AND a record contract with Epic Records. They pooled their prize winnings together and all moved to Los Angeles, and all got apartments right next door to each other in the same building. But just a week later, Epic dropped them because the marketing people didn′t think an a cappella group could sell records. Instead of giving up, they were determined and began recording their own songs on UA-cam, hiring Ben Bram as their producer and arranger. These usually consisted of the five of them sitting on a couch and performing cover songs live. Several of the videos went viral, and Sony (the parent company of Epic) decided to give them another chance by placing them on one of their smaller labels, Madison Gate. They released two secular EPs and one Christmas EP on Madison Gate, all of which were strong sellers. But when their cover of a medley of songs by Daft Punk not only went super−viral, but also won them their first Grammy, they were promoted all the way up to RCA Records, Sony′s top label. They began writing and producing their own songs in addition to their covers, began putting out a Christmas album just about annually (which has become their best−selling genre), and have had multi−platinum album sales, sold−out world tours, and have won two additional Grammys. Avi began getting burned out with all of the touring and heavy recording schedule, was suffering from anxiety and personal problems, and learned that his mother had been diagnosed with cancer in 2017. He announced he was departing from the group and taking some time away from the music industry. Matt Sallee (from Baltimore) joined them in September 2017. He did only become official when they renewed their RCA contract in February 2018, but he recorded with them in September as a featured artist and went on their Christmas tour as a featured artist, as well. When he attended the audition for the group, he had already mastered the Bass part for most if not all their past catalogue. He was successful and has proved that he fits in well with the group. If you think there have been other changes to the line up - look again. This is the ONLY change. Kirstie and Mitch are like chameleons and change looks frequently. It is an often debated subject among the Pentaholics as to just how soon we introduce the "Beginners Guide" as we don't want to overdo the introduction. This is a compilation of snips of a whole load of songs which PTX have released. It highlights each member with some of their solos and then a brief history in video. It is quite long - 14+ minutes and is a little dated now (Feb 2020) but is a good watch ua-cam.com/video/lDxIfwfCmQE/v-deo.html&pp=ygUdYmVnaW5uZXJzIGd1aWRlIHRvIHBlbnRhdG9uaXg%3D. After a year away from music, Avi has now returned as a phenomenal solo artist in the Folk/Americana/Roots genre. Ben Bram has been in charge of their production, including arranging and directing from the beginning. He is often referred to as the sixth member. Scott and Kevin are major players in the arrangements, but every member contributes. A good watch is "The Recording of Evergreen" where a camera was invited into the studio for the second week of recording/ Also, all members are songwriters for both Pentatonix and their own solo work. Ed Boyer who mixes everything of theirs (even the HWB Livestream) is the one who pulled Ben Bram into the sing off in the first place. They have Grammy wins for Daft Punk Medley, Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, and Jolene featuring Dolly Parton. They were nominated for a 4th Grammy for their album Evergreen, but didn't win. Another nomination for Holidays Around the World album in the 2024 list! Kirstie became a new mum which caused a pause in touring after their Evergreen Christmas tour 2021. Mid March 2023 Kirstie has announced that she is engaged to Ben Hausdorff, their videographer. They married 22/04/24! They have a star on the Hollywood walk of fame installed in February 2023. They are the only a capella group with a star! They came 3rd in the 2023 Masked Singer performing as "California Rolls" being unmasked in May 23. Things you need to know because if you get these wrong Pentaholics will come after you with pitch forks and torches! Ha Ha!! 1- There is NO Auto-Tune; what you hear is actually what they sing. They really are that good. One exception is the 90's Dance Medley where Cher used autotune as an effect - so they had to. 2- What produces everything that you hear in the video, you see in the official video. If there is an instrument used in the music, you see it on screen. In the 2022 Christmas album, there are some instruments not featured throughout the album. 3- They never release something on video they can’t reproduce with the exact same quality live on-stage. 4. It is "Pentatonix" there is no "The".
Man in the Middle - Scott Hoying - his voice can do all kinds of things 2014 - Streamy Award for Problem 2014 - Grammy for Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella - Daft Punk 2015 - Grammy for Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Capella - Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy 2016 - Grammy for Best Country Duo/Group Performance - Jolene with Dolly Parton 2023 - Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame
Avi (the guy on the bottom left) is the bass, and he does the bass rhythm in sync with Kevin's beatboxing (he often sounds just like a string bass). Sometimes when Kevin is singing, Avi does a little of the beat background, and Mitch can also beatbox a little when they need a fill-in. Mitch (the guy on the upper left with the amazing high voice) is most noted for the high end of his range, which can be really insanely high, but he's also got a pretty nice lower range, which is probablly shown off best in their cover of "Take on Me" by A-ha. Scott (the "guy in the middle") is the baritone with an amazing range from high to low (he takes over the bass line when the bass Avi, or more recently Matt) is singing lead. He has a great voice for R&B style music. Kirstin (Kirstie) is the Mezzo-soprano/alto of the group, and has probably shown the most growth vocally from their early days to present... she was good back then, but is absolutely amazing now. The strength of Pentatonix is that you have five people, each capable of singing lead for a group of their own, but putting the egos aside and blending their amazing voices to create something really special and taking the background vocals to make whoever's on lead sound even better. My favorite group.
they have an evolution of rhianna too. yoo could watch 'introduction to pentatonix' which tells you about the early years and how they got together; its about 15 minutes long. this video is from early days. to see how they've grown vocally since then check out their cover of seal's 'kiss from a rose' done live in the vevo studio. talk about an upgrade. they have lots of original music that's great. i like 'happy now', 'sing', 'never gonna cry again' and many more.
They do have a few songs where they actually use an instrument, but they always show the instrument in the video. And Kevin is usually the one playing it! Scott is the "dude in the middle". Mitch is the one with the high voice. Kirsten is the girl, Avi is the bass, and of course Kevin is the percussionist and he also has a beautiful high voice. They have several "Evolution" videos and this is definitely my favorite. My next favorite is their Evolution of Beyonce. I'd love to see y'all react to that one, too!
Daft Punk Medley was their First Grammy. They got another doing a Collab with Dolly Parton. I'm not sure what the third one was for. They also have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
You might enjoy watching Pentatonix perform live a tribute to the Jackson 5 at the Grammys in 2017. ua-cam.com/video/i4b2lWEujbY/v-deo.htmlsi=Uy89blprRRvfFTD6
Pentatonix a "brief" background.
They won The Sing Off in 2011. They made a guest starring appearance on America′s Got Talent as non−competitors a couple of years after that.
The founding members are:-
Scott Hoying (tall blond guy, natural baritone but has an impressive five−to−six octave range, can go all the way up to high tenor and down to bass, sings the bass lines when the usual bass singer takes the lead);
Kirstin "Kirstie" (Rhymes with "Thirsty") Maldonado (the only female member, natural mezzo soprano, but can go down to low alto and as high as upper soprano, also can sing in whistle notes that are off the scale); For a time in 2018 between the group’s tours, had the female lead on Broadway in the production of “Kinky Boots”.
Mitch Grassi (a true contra−tenor, can hit high notes in his chest voice with ease and go WAY higher in his falsetto, also with ease);
Avriel "Avi" Kaplan (dark beard and long hair), true basso profundo, trained as an opera singer, also can go up into the tenor range; and
Kevin "KO" Olusola (beatboxer extraordinaire, also is a world−class cellist who plays cello on some of their songs, has a beautiful high tenor voice and gets occasional lead vocal solos as well, graduated pre−med from Yale and speaks several languages including Mandarin Chinese).
Kirstie, Scott & Mitch grew up together in Arlington, Texas, and began performing together as children in local youth musical theater. They ended up in high school together and performed in the choir. While there, they formed an a cappella group called The Trio which had several performance videos go viral on UA-cam, most notably a cover of Lady Gaga′s "Telephone". The three of them are best friends and consider themselves to be almost siblings.
Scott & Kirstie (who were a class year ahead of Mitch) both graduated high school in 2010 and went their separate ways to different colleges, Scott at USC and Kirstie at Oklahoma.
While at USC, Scott joined a USC−based a cappella group called the SoCal VoCals, where he met alumnus Ben Bram, who was now an arranger and vocal coach for the NBC TV show The Sing Off, an a cappella competition show. Ben convinced Scott to get The Trio to audition for the show. The three reunited (Mitch had to skip high school graduation ceremonies to go) in Los Angeles for the audition.
They found out that the rules had changed, so they needed at least five members to audition. Ben put them together with Avi (a native of Visalia, California), who he knew from Avi′s performing days at Mount San Antonio College in California. They found Kevin (from Kentucky) through one of his UA-cam videos that had gone viral featuring him playing the cello and beatboxing at the same time, a talent that Kevin coined as "Cello−Boxing".
Kevin arrived in Los Angeles literally the day before the audition! Scott came up with the name "Pentatonix" after the pentatonic scale. They performed a re−arrangement of "The Telephone" for the audition and passed, despite having been together as a five−piece group for less that 24 hours!
They won The Sing Off that season (all of the performances are available on UA-cam), in which they received a substantial cash prize AND a record contract with Epic Records. They pooled their prize winnings together and all moved to Los Angeles, and all got apartments right next door to each other in the same building.
But just a week later, Epic dropped them because the marketing people didn′t think an a cappella group could sell records.
Instead of giving up, they were determined and began recording their own songs on UA-cam, hiring Ben Bram as their producer and arranger. These usually consisted of the five of them sitting on a couch and performing cover songs live.
Several of the videos went viral, and Sony (the parent company of Epic) decided to give them another chance by placing them on one of their smaller labels, Madison Gate. They released two secular EPs and one Christmas EP on Madison Gate, all of which were strong sellers.
But when their cover of a medley of songs by Daft Punk not only went super−viral, but also won them their first Grammy, they were promoted all the way up to RCA Records, Sony′s top label.
They began writing and producing their own songs in addition to their covers, began putting out a Christmas album just about annually (which has become their best−selling genre), and have had multi−platinum album sales, sold−out world tours, and have won two additional Grammys.
Avi began getting burned out with all of the touring and heavy recording schedule, was suffering from anxiety and personal problems, and learned that his mother had been diagnosed with cancer in 2017. He announced he was departing from the group and taking some time away from the music industry.
Matt Sallee (from Baltimore) joined them in September 2017. He did only become official when they renewed their RCA contract in February 2018, but he recorded with them in September as a featured artist and went on their Christmas tour as a featured artist, as well. When he attended the audition for the group, he had already mastered the Bass part for most if not all their past catalogue. He was successful and has proved that he fits in well with the group.
If you think there have been other changes to the line up - look again. This is the ONLY change. Kirstie and Mitch are like chameleons and change looks frequently.
It is an often debated subject among the Pentaholics as to just how soon we introduce the "Beginners Guide" as we don't want to overdo the introduction. This is a compilation of snips of a whole load of songs which PTX have released. It highlights each member with some of their solos and then a brief history in video. It is quite long - 14+ minutes and is a little dated now (Feb 2020) but is a good watch ua-cam.com/video/lDxIfwfCmQE/v-deo.html&pp=ygUdYmVnaW5uZXJzIGd1aWRlIHRvIHBlbnRhdG9uaXg%3D.
After a year away from music, Avi has now returned as a phenomenal solo artist in the Folk/Americana/Roots genre.
Ben Bram has been in charge of their production, including arranging and directing from the beginning. He is often referred to as the sixth member. Scott and Kevin are major players in the arrangements, but every member contributes. A good watch is "The Recording of Evergreen" where a camera was invited into the studio for the second week of recording/
Also, all members are songwriters for both Pentatonix and their own solo work.
Ed Boyer who mixes everything of theirs (even the HWB Livestream) is the one who pulled Ben Bram into the sing off in the first place.
They have Grammy wins for Daft Punk Medley, Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, and Jolene featuring Dolly Parton. They were nominated for a 4th Grammy for their album Evergreen, but didn't win. Another nomination for Holidays Around the World album in the 2024 list!
Kirstie became a new mum which caused a pause in touring after their Evergreen Christmas tour 2021. Mid March 2023 Kirstie has announced that she is engaged to Ben Hausdorff, their videographer. They married 22/04/24!
They have a star on the Hollywood walk of fame installed in February 2023. They are the only a capella group with a star!
They came 3rd in the 2023 Masked Singer performing as "California Rolls" being unmasked in May 23.
Things you need to know because if you get these wrong Pentaholics will come after you with pitch forks and torches! Ha Ha!!
1- There is NO Auto-Tune; what you hear is actually what they sing. They really are that good. One exception is the 90's Dance Medley where Cher used autotune as an effect - so they had to.
2- What produces everything that you hear in the video, you see in the official video. If there is an instrument used in the music, you see it on screen. In the 2022 Christmas album, there are some instruments not featured throughout the album.
3- They never release something on video they can’t reproduce with the exact same quality live on-stage.
4. It is "Pentatonix" there is no "The".
Excellent summary.
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'Mary did you know' is my favorite & Kevin sings on that one too
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Man in the Middle - Scott Hoying - his voice can do all kinds of things
2014 - Streamy Award for Problem
2014 - Grammy for Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella - Daft Punk
2015 - Grammy for Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Capella - Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy
2016 - Grammy for Best Country Duo/Group Performance - Jolene with Dolly Parton
2023 - Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame
Thanks for watching ❤️
Avi (the guy on the bottom left) is the bass, and he does the bass rhythm in sync with Kevin's beatboxing (he often sounds just like a string bass). Sometimes when Kevin is singing, Avi does a little of the beat background, and Mitch can also beatbox a little when they need a fill-in.
Mitch (the guy on the upper left with the amazing high voice) is most noted for the high end of his range, which can be really insanely high, but he's also got a pretty nice lower range, which is probablly shown off best in their cover of "Take on Me" by A-ha. Scott (the "guy in the middle") is the baritone with an amazing range from high to low (he takes over the bass line when the bass Avi, or more recently Matt) is singing lead. He has a great voice for R&B style music. Kirstin (Kirstie) is the Mezzo-soprano/alto of the group, and has probably shown the most growth vocally from their early days to present... she was good back then, but is absolutely amazing now. The strength of Pentatonix is that you have five people, each capable of singing lead for a group of their own, but putting the egos aside and blending their amazing voices to create something really special and taking the background vocals to make whoever's on lead sound even better. My favorite group.
Thanks for watching ❤️
they have an evolution of rhianna too. yoo could watch 'introduction to pentatonix' which tells you about the early years and how they got together; its about 15 minutes long. this video is from early days. to see how they've grown vocally since then check out their cover of seal's 'kiss from a rose' done live in the vevo studio. talk about an upgrade. they have lots of original music that's great. i like 'happy now', 'sing', 'never gonna cry again' and many more.
Thanks for watching ❤️
If you want to see them do this song With Choreography you’d like their Popspring 2016 (I think) where this is one of the 4 songs performed live!
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The second Grammy was for Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy. It would be good for Christmas.
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If u like how they flow all the songs into one another, u should check out their other medleys…Beyoncé, Rihanna, Ariana
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They do have a few songs where they actually use an instrument, but they always show the instrument in the video. And Kevin is usually the one playing it! Scott is the "dude in the middle". Mitch is the one with the high voice. Kirsten is the girl, Avi is the bass, and of course Kevin is the percussionist and he also has a beautiful high voice. They have several "Evolution" videos and this is definitely my favorite. My next favorite is their Evolution of Beyonce. I'd love to see y'all react to that one, too!
Love the Beyonce and the Rihanna evolution videos. Ariana Grande too!
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Okay, the standing ones are Mitch, Scott, Kirstie….in front is Avi and Kevin
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Daft Punk Medley was their First Grammy. They got another doing a Collab with Dolly Parton. I'm not sure what the third one was for. They also have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
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Please take time to read the comments of Alan freeman. This group is excellent. From a Pentaholic. Greetings from South Africa
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Pentatonix just released a new live version of Bohemian Rhapsody. Please react to it. Thanks.
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You might enjoy watching Pentatonix perform live a tribute to the Jackson 5 at the Grammys in 2017.
ua-cam.com/video/i4b2lWEujbY/v-deo.htmlsi=Uy89blprRRvfFTD6
Could you please make a Pentatonix playlist? Thanks.
If you haven’t done to it yet, please react to their cover of Sound Of Silence.
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Check out the cover of Billie Jean by Chris Cornell
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