Connor Martin-Cox, a 2018 Hofstra University graduate who studied percussion performance, made a name for himself in the a cappella world postgraduation. 

“I’ve worked with Pentatonix a couple times – which was very cool – on their holiday [repertoire],” Martin-Cox said. “It was surreal. They basically filmed a livestream of one of their shows. They sent me the recording of the show and said, ‘Hey, we want to get a livestream of this done in the next, like, three days.’”

Martin-Cox connected with the a cappella group through their producer, Ed Boyer. Martin-Cox worked with Boyer on little projects before producing the Pentatonix livestream. Boyer recommended Martin-Cox for the role because Boyer’s full-time job and at-home commitments prevented him from giving the livestream his full attention. 

“At the time, I had a little lull in work, and I basically was like, ‘If I work on this, I’m [going to] have to work, like, 13- or 14-hour days,’” Martin-Cox said. “I actually ended up pulling an all-nighter to finish it.”

His job was to clean the vocals and put the livestream together, then send it off to the next person to complete. 

“The coolest part was watching it,” Martin-Cox said. “I watched the livestream around Christmas time with my family because [Christmas] is a holiday where they listen to [Pentatonix] the most. So, we watched it, and at the end, my name scrolled on the screen. I was like, ‘Hell yeah.’ Oh, my God, it was crazy.”

Altogether, Martin-Cox produced a total of four projects for Pentatonix long after solidifying his love for a cappella. 

Despite having experience in all areas of music and beginning his career in percussion, Martin-Cox found a love for a cappella and even started his own a cappella group after graduation. 

“We’re called ‘Black to Gold,’” Martin-Cox said. “We’re six members; we have three Hofstra [graduates] – my wife, me and my best friend, Leah [Petraglia]. We’ve headlined some festivals. In the holiday season, we get hired to sing at swanky holiday parties, which is really funny. We’ll pull up to this massive mansion and sing holiday music for an hour and get paid a bunch.”

“Black to Gold” host educational festivals, teaching young a cappella artists how to beatbox and arrange music. Currently, they are working on their second album. 

Martin-Cox found his place professionally in the a cappella world at an a cappella production retreat right after graduation.

“I was like, ‘This could be cool: learning about producing a cappella music, recording people, just learning more about the art form,’” Martin-Cox said.

From there, he worked part time at the MET Opera, producing music and growing his clientele.

“I’m recording the vocals – whether I’m doing it myself or they do it on their own – and then I’m kind of polishing it, making it sound really clean and then mixing it together, much like any song you hear on the radio, whether it’s rock or pop or jazz or electronic music, ” Martin-Cox said. “That’s what my job is and what my career has turned into.”

Unlike most musicians, Martin-Cox found the COVID-19 pandemic to be an opportunity for him to grow professionally. He produced virtual, educational videos for Hofstra’s a cappella programs, then continued to help other universities, such as Northwestern University and the University of Arizona. 

“I actually feel like once I pivoted to virtual choirs, my income and consistency of work during the pandemic was pretty frequent compared to other musicians that were used to playing live and couldn’t go,” Martin-Cox said. “The freelance life in general – it’ll chew you up and spit you out.”

Despite some challenges in self-employment, Martin-Cox acknowledges that the industry can be very rewarding, especially during award season. Martin-Cox submits his music to the Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards (CARA), which, for the a cappella community, hold the same level of prestige that the Grammy Awards have in music. 

“[The CARA nominations] came out the other day, and I got 29 nominations,” Martin-Cox said. “I’ll have some tough months – maybe working to get through everything – and then my work is valued, you know, and it makes it worth it.” 

In total, Martin-Cox believes he has received over 165 nominations since starting his career, winning around 28 awards. 

“It’s just that every year is a little different. It depends on what projects I work on and what groups I’m working with,” Martin-Cox said. “I would say my production style is very unique. People in the community either like it or they don’t, but they seem to like it. I have an interesting angle of that when I went to school, it wasn’t vocal music; it was playing in a symphonic band and playing in an orchestra and learning choral conducting and all this stuff.”

Martin-Cox works from home 90% of the time, and travels to colleges and universities the other 10%.

“For the Hofbeats, specifically, as an alumni [sic], my first huge project as a producer was the Hofbeat’s first [Extended Plays (EP)],” Martin-Cox said. “It was at a time where the a cappella groups on campus weren’t even getting funding from [the Student Government Association] yet. I just kind of did it more for the love of the group.”

The Hofbeats is where Martin-Cox found his place during his college years and where he met his wife, Courtney Martin-Cox.

“When they compete in the [International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella] tournaments, I arrange their music,” Martin-Cox said. “We have a pretty good working relationship. They trust me; I trust them to sing my charts. I’m the great grandfather or an ancient relic, but at this point, I still like being part of the community and helping them out. Because when I was in school – in the Hofbeats – we hadn’t even competed yet.” 

The Hofbeats have now worked with Martin-Cox to arrange six EPs. He meets with the group between March and May to record sounds and begin the producing process.

“While producing a cappella is my main thing, I still perform in musicals throughout the year as a drummer or percussionist,” Martin-Cox said. “I have written two musicals with a friend – that was pretty fun. Just kind of grinding. I mean, that’s what the self-employed music life is; it’s just on to the next thing.”

Note: The following paragraph, “The Hofbeats is where Martin-Cox found his place during his college years and where he met his wife.”  was changed to “The Hofbeats is where Martin-Cox found his place during his college years and where he met his wife, Courtney Martin-Cox.” on March 15, 2026 at 5:03 pm.