A 28-YEAR-old music teacher from Glandore – who has been posting videos of her playing the piano while on Covid-19 lockdown – has spoken of her delight after superstar Dutch DJ Tiesto sent her a message of support.
Rachael O’Donovan – who teaches at Gaelcholáiste Charraig Uí Leighin – told The Southern Star that she has been overwhelmed by the public response to the videos she has posted as part of a 30-day music challenge.
‘I saw a post online about the challenge and said I would do it to keep busy while at home here in Glandore and it’s been amazing so far,’ said Rachael.
‘So I have had to learn the songs every day and record them and put them up and didn’t think anything more about it really. As part of the challenge you get to pick a daily song from a category so it’s been a good mix especially playing tracks like ‘Maniac 2000’ or ‘Insomnia.’
TIËSTO! Day 15: A song you like that’s a cover by another artist @RachaelODonovan chose the @tiesto cover of Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings #30DaySongChallenge @CorksRedFM pic.twitter.com/4ba64QEWhR
— Fiona O'Donovan (@FionaRedFM) April 11, 2020
Rachael had originally just been sharing them to her own private Instagram and Facebook accounts but it was her sister Fiona – who is a news reporter with Cork’s Red FM – who persuaded her to share them on a wider scale.
Last Saturday – which was the 15th day of the challenge – Rachael shared the video of her playing a rendition of Tiesto’s cover of Samuel Barber’s ‘Adagio for Strings’ and tagged the well-known DJ in her post.
‘He retweeted it and then commented on it and I didn’t think he’d even get the notification or take the time to watch it and I was in total shock with that. Then the following morning I woke up to a private message from him.’
Tiesto told Rachael that he loved her video and asked her to send it onto him so he could share it with his 18m followers online.
‘This would have never happened if it wasn’t for me being in a lockdown and he probably wouldn’t have seen it if he was touring around the world, but I guess he is at home too,’ laughed Rachael.
‘I was delighted he saw it and I actually couldn’t believe he sent me a message. I shared it on my Twitter account and he reacted to that, too.’
Tiesto isn’t the only celebrity to endorse her piano playing skills and she has had former Ireland rugby player Brian O’Driscoll and MMA fighter Peter Queally all reposting her videos, as well as DJs Mark McCabe and Jenny Greene and singer Gerry Cinnamon.
‘I am just delighted that people are watching my videos and I have to say it had given me a great buzz and all my colleagues at school have seen the videos too.’
Like many other teachers stuck at home, Rachael said she really misses it and has been in touch regularly with them.
‘I just want to go back to school and I really miss my students, and especially the exam students.’
Her parents Paul and Margaret are also delighted with the feedback that Rachael is receiving too.
‘The 30 days challenge finishes in two weeks but I’m hoping afterwards to keep uploading videos more regularly and get to play more gigs too.’
See @RachaelODonovan on Twitter for all her videos for the 30 day challenge.
