23-year-old cellist and beatboxer Kevin "KO" Olusola, hails from Owensboro, Kentucky. Since he started at six, he became Principal Cellist of the Kentucky All-State Symphony Orchestra and also co-principal cellist of the Yale Symphony Orchestra. Kevin has soloed for From the Top, National Public Radio, Carnegie Hall, and PBS. In January of 2009, KO was the Runner-up in world-wide renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma's "Celebrate and Collaborate" international competition out of more than 400 contestants from across the globe. Yo-Yo Ma commented that Kevin's cello/beatbox version of "Dona Nobis Pacem" was "inventive and unexpected." Kevin’s Youtube video of him performing Mark Summer’s “Julie-O” for cello and beatboxing garnered national acclaim on media channels like CBS, AOL, Huffington Post, Washtington Post, and others. Because of this video, Kevin not only toured with Gungor on the David Crowder Band “7” Tour, but also became a founding member of Pentatonix, a 5-member a cappella electro-pop a cappella group. Last fall, Pentatonix was recently signed to Sony for winning Season Th
ree of NBC’s “The Sing-Off.” Since then, he was just recently named a member of The Grio’s 100: Class of 2012, a website dedicated to 100 influential African-Americans influincing change in the world, was featured on the Today Show, and soloed at the 2012 Orlando NBA All-Star Game. Pentatonix will be releasing their debut EP in June.
Photo Credit: Rachel Ceretto