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A Plano West grad covers pop songs with his violin. People are listening

Alan Milan’s most-viewed video, a cover of “lovely” by Billie Eilish and Khalid, has more than 13 million views.

What does a classically trained 21-year-old violinist do to make a living in a musical era ruled by Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande? He creates viral violin videos covering pop and hip-hop songs.

Alan Milan, who graduated from Plano West Senior High and finished up at Northwestern University last year, started playing the violin at age 7. He launched his YouTube channel, ItsAMoney, in 2017 and now has more than 820,000 subscribers. His most-viewed video, a cover of “lovely” by Billie Eilish and Khalid, has more than 13 million views.

“I was always the kid that would play other types of songs on the violin just because I could,” Milan says. “During lunch, I played Taylor Swift, One Direction, all the hits back in the day, and people would love it.”

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Milan reinvents today’s chart-toppers with his violin — and does it all by ear. His online presence has turned into a full-time job and given him the chance to collaborate with other musical content creators. What’s next? He’s working on playing live with a DJ for an act he hopes to bring to Dallas clubs.

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