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Holywood pianist goes viral after airport performance

BBC Cory at the pianoBBC
Fifteen-year-old Cory went viral on social media after he was filmed playing piano in Dublin airport.

A teenage pianist from Holywood says when he plays he loses himself in the music and is "transported" to a different place.

Fifteen-year-old Cory, who is self-taught, went viral after a video of him playing a piano in Dublin airport was posted to the organisation's X (formerly known as Twitter) profile.

"In the airport, I heard a little kid thumping on the keys, and I thought that's definitely a piano. So I turned back, sat down and started playing," he told BBC News NI.

Passengers stopped in the airport terminal as the teenager played a classical piece from Italian composer Ludovico Einaudi.

Hundreds of thousands of views later, Cory says he is still coming to terms with the public reaction.

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Cory told BBC News NI there were "loads of people there" when he started playing.

"They all stopped and pulled out their phones and started recording and clapping," he said.

"A Norwegian woman even came up to talk to me and said that it was a very lovely welcome to Ireland".

Cory McReynolds playing the piano
Cory used online tutorials to learn how to play classical music

Cory's talent for classical piano is a newly-developed skill, he began teaching himself how to play five years ago.

He told BBC News NI that his passion for the instrument began on holiday.

"There was a piano and my aunty started to play something and I thought, I really want to learn how to play that. So she sat me down and taught me it step by step."

Cory started lessons just before the pandemic, but had to take a break during lockdown.

Two years ago he decided to try again.

"I thought, why don't I just teach myself? So I looked up piano tutorials on YouTube. I now play the piano every day and it makes me very happy," he said.

'Music transported me to a new place'

Cory says when he sees a piano, he has to sit down and play it.

One summer he travelled on the train every day to Bloomfield Shopping Centre to treat the public to his musical talents.

Cory McReynolds
Cory hopes that he will have future career playing the piano

Cory, who is studying for a GCSE in music, says he hopes to build a career out of his passion some day.

"I would love to do something in the future involving the piano. At the moment I am trying to nail Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata," he said.

Despite Cory's new-found social media fame, he is currently practicing for his biggest performance yet - his uncle's wedding this summer where he will be playing both classical and contemporary music throughout the ceremony.