Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Brandon Brown will be a contestant on Season 13 of The Voice.

She was a product of the Harlem School of the Arts.

Now one of her fellow students — Brandon Brown — will be attempting to repeat her success on the show.

Here’s the interesting thing about 19-year-old Brandon: He was apparently proficient as a violinist before he started taking singing seriously.

Brandon also attended the Hoff-Barthelson Music School in Scarsdale, N.Y., and Julliard’s Advanced Music Program before landing at the Harlem School of the Arts.

He credits the latter with reviving his interest in the violin.

“I didn’t really want to play violin anymore but when I came to (Harlem School of the Arts),” he says on the school’s Meet the Artists page. “They showed me things that I could do with my violin that I hadn’t thought of before, a jazz style that I wasn’t accustomed to. It made me like playing violin again.”

Brandon also plays piano. But these days, he lists singing first in his bio on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

And he apparently got to show off those skills on an album featuring Harlem School of Arts students. Funded through a Kickstarter project and released in 2015, the 12-track Evolution CD also features We McDonald and is available through CD Baby.

Want another We connection?

Like We, Brandon has been coached by Harlem School for the Arts Music Director Yolanda Wyns. In fact, she has several posts on her Facebook page about preparing Brandon for a trip to Los Angeles, without revealing why.

Of course, the secret’s out now. Season 13 Voice contestants we allowed to announce their participation in the show on social media beginning this week.

Brandon has also performed at The Apollo, The Lincoln Center and Minton’s, a popular live jazz venue in New York.

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The Voice has done it again, rounding up an impressive array of talent for Season 13. Keep checking back for more profiles of the contestants we’ll meet when the blind auditions begin Sept. 25 on NBC. And for complete coverage of The Voice once Season 13 begins.