A renowned violinist has surprised his "biggest fan" with a private Viennese Christmas concert for her birthday.
94-year-old Maura Murray, from Co Meath, was treated by her family to the surprise birthday performance from her favourite musician Vladimir Jablokov via Zoom.
Vladimir has performed his annual Viennese Christmas concert at the National Concert Hall for over ten years.
This year, Vladimir like many musicians, has adapted and is performing a series of private Zoom concerts in the run-up to Christmas from his studio in Co Kildare.
Maura described her surprise birthday concert, which was virtually attended by family in Ireland and Holland, as "such a treat".
"There'll be a lot of jealous people in Trim if they hear about this," she added.
Vladimir's private Zoom concerts took two months of production planning and involved extensive sound tests with the video conferencing app. He designed and built a mini-theatre stage for the shows.
Although he is eager to return to live performance, he does also enjoy the experience of bringing the magic of a classical Christmas directly into people's homes.
"It's great to be able to do it with today's technology because you can connect families from anywhere around the world," he said.
"As a performer, I have to say, I feel like I am performing on the stage. I can see some people clapping behind the screens. It's so intimate because I can see people's faces.
"I can see into their houses and they are happy to share that kind of experience with me," he explained.
