Kirstin Maldonado, a member of the highly acclaimed and diverse musical group Pentatonix, talked about how pursuing a music career helped her embrace her Mexican American background.
Maldonado is one of five members of Pentatonix, an a cappella group that sings without any instruments — they use their voices to create all the sounds.
"I feel like it has been a journey throughout the years to be accepting of my culture —I always felt different, and not as accepting of it," said Maldonado. "I've learned that even just as an individual, regardless of who I am, and regardless of who anyone is, to really be true to yourself and your own self expression and really use your voice for that."
Maldonado was born and raised in Fort Worth, Texas. In 2011 she co-founded the GRAMMY Award-winning group Pentatonix, and at 24 years old she is performing at events like the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony. The group recently released their third holiday album, "A Pentatonix Christmas," earlier this year.
"Everyone comes to music when they are mourning, when they are happy — for anything," Maldonado said. "Music is so universal, and so I love that we can all be different and we can all just show that."
They recently sang the recently deceased Leonard Cohen's beautiful song, "Hallelujah."
You can tune into "A Pentatonix Christmas Special" on NBC December 14 at at 8:00 p.m. EST.
