Biography
Kirstin chose the streamlined single-word alias Kirstin to mark her independent path beyond Pentatonix. She introduced her first solo recording, "Break a Little," in May 2017 at the precise moment her group reached peak commercial visibility, yet the track steered sharply away from the ensemble’s millennial reinterpretation of classic vocal-harmony traditions. Instead, her material leaned into sleek, EDM-infused pop that reflected the sounds she absorbed while growing up in the 2000s.
Born May 16, 1992, in Fort Worth, Texas, Maldonado started voice lessons at eight and soon gravitated toward musical theater, where she first crossed paths with Mitch Grassi. The idea for Pentatonix crystallized later, while she studied at the University of Oklahoma; longtime friend Scott Hoying recruited her for NBC’s The Sing-Off, prompting her to abandon coursework and join the competition. Avi Kaplan and Kevin Olusola completed the lineup with Hoying and Grassi, and the quintet captured national attention on the program’s third season in 2011. After launching their recording career in 2014, Pentatonix spent the next three years dominating the Billboard album charts.
Side projects began surfacing for Maldonado in 2016, among them a guest turn in a Voctave video and a joint appearance with Grassi and Hoying on an episode of Bones. Her solo focus sharpened in summer 2017 when “Break a Little” arrived as the opening single from her debut EP.
Born May 16, 1992, in Fort Worth, Texas, Maldonado started voice lessons at eight and soon gravitated toward musical theater, where she first crossed paths with Mitch Grassi. The idea for Pentatonix crystallized later, while she studied at the University of Oklahoma; longtime friend Scott Hoying recruited her for NBC’s The Sing-Off, prompting her to abandon coursework and join the competition. Avi Kaplan and Kevin Olusola completed the lineup with Hoying and Grassi, and the quintet captured national attention on the program’s third season in 2011. After launching their recording career in 2014, Pentatonix spent the next three years dominating the Billboard album charts.
Side projects began surfacing for Maldonado in 2016, among them a guest turn in a Voctave video and a joint appearance with Grassi and Hoying on an episode of Bones. Her solo focus sharpened in summer 2017 when “Break a Little” arrived as the opening single from her debut EP.
Albums
Singles
