Season 30 of The Voice Features a Record Number of Berklee Alumni
Dakota Cohen BM ’23 performing Black Sabbath’s soft-rock ballad “Changes.”
Image by Griffin Nagel/NBC
Brandon Diaz BM ’19 singing Justin Timberlake’s “Drink You Away.”
Image by Griffin Nagel/NBC
Nina Howland BM ’24 got a four-chair turn for her rendition of Bonnie Raitt's “Love Me Like a Man.”
Image by Griffin Nagel/NBC
Zalissa Stewart BM ’22 sings "Sweet Thing" for her Blind Audition.
Image by Griffin Nagel/NBC
Four Berklee College of Music alumni have appeared and performed in the 30th season of The Voice. That brings the total number of Berklee-affiliated contestants to six, alongside Lexi Stephens and Marcus Ladden Jr from Boston Conservatory at Berklee.
Here's a little more about their backgrounds and journeys on the show so far. Read more about their journeys and watch their auditions below.
Dakota Cohen BM ’23 performed Black Sabbath’s soft-rock ballad “Changes,” earning chair turns from Adam Levine and Riley Green. A rocker and a graduate of Berklee College of Music’s contemporary writing and production and music business/management programs, Cohen channels what, in her bio, she calls “fearless girl rock”: powerhouse vocals with an intentionally gritty component. She eventually joined Team Adam, who likened her vocals to Miley’s.
Watch Cohen's performance of "Changes":
As a working musician, Cohen performs live regularly across the West Coast and collaborates on live Roots/Americana and rock events. With her own band, she released original tracks on the EP Die on the Hill.
Brandon Diaz BM ’19 sang Justin Timberlake’s “Drink You Away,” combining R&B and more theatrical sounds. This performance got him chair turns from Kelly Clarkson and Queen Latifah, whom he eventually chose as his coach. While he had been a contestant on season 16 of American Idol, where he placed in the Top 24, this was a comeback for him; he unsuccessfully auditioned as a teen during season 4. As of this writing, Diaz is still in the competition; he survived the Battle Rounds despite technically losing to Bryan Jaymes in their duet of Stevie Wonder’s “As,” as Adam Levine stole him from Latifah’s team.
Watch Diaz's performance of "Drink You Away":
A graduate of Berklee’s Songwriting Department, Diaz is a collaborator of Academy Award-winning composer A.R. Rahman: he was the vocal producer of Rahman’s 2022 Why? The Musical, and in 2025, he collaborated with him again on the single “Jamal,” the Loudoun Times reported.
Nina Howland BM ’24 performed the live version of Bonnie Raitt’s “Love Me Like a Man” with a combination of classical-soul and musical-theater styles, resulting in a four-chair turn. Clarkson’s instinctive “Hi, I’m Kelly, your coach” ended up matching Howland’s choice. A native New Yorker, Howland studied at LaGuardia, the performing-arts high school that served as the setting for Fame!, and prior to joining The Voice, Howland was part of the national tour of The Great Gatsby: A New Musical, where she understudied the role of Daisy. Howland advanced from the Battle Rounds after performing Sia’s “Breathe Me” with fellow team member Hazel Gerson.
Watch Howland's performance of "Love Me Like a Man":
For her audition, Zalissa Stewart BM ’22, known mononymously as Zalissa, sang “Sweet Thing” by Rufus featuring Chaka Khan. While that did not result in a chair turn, Clarkson praised the way she mastered the high notes, while Latifah noted her energy. Prior to enrolling at Berklee, Zalissa studied at the Stax Music Academy in Memphis, Tennessee, where she now works as a vocal instructor. As an artist, she is active in the Memphis music scene with the Memphis-based soul and blues band Southern Avenue and with her fiancé, the singer-songwriter Corey Lou.
Watch Zalissa's performance of "Sweet Thing":
And while Cut Week is two weeks away—and Cohen still has to appear in her Battle Round—this remains the highest number of Berklee alumni and students to appear on a single season of The Voice.
