Dialog reporter
Padua junior Olivia Rubini has grown up surrounded by music, plans a career in performing
WILMINGTON – Most people are out of high school before they begin their professional work, but not Olivia Rubini. The Padua Academy junior is eyeing a career in music, and she released her first single, “Running Out,” last summer.
Rubini has grown up in a music environment. Her father, Ritchie, is a producer. He wrote “Running Out” with the pop-rock duo RKVC, although not specifically with her in mind.
“They were like, ‘We want a female voice for this; let’s get Olivia to do it,’” Rubini said. “Then I sang a little demo, and after the demo they said, ‘This sounds right with you. This is your song.’”
The song, which is available on iTunes, Amazon and other digital platforms, was released a few months after Rubini’s 16th birthday. It debuted on WSTW 93.7 FM last August.
“It wasn’t strange to release a song at such a young age, since I grew up with that and my dad producing some younger people,” she said. “I wanted to start young because if I wanted to get somewhere it’s better to start when you’re younger. I like it that I’m young and I’m doing stuff. It’s kind of interesting.”
Rubini sings in the church choir at St. John the Beloved, where she attended elementary school, and at Padua she is in the music ministry and a member of the Madrigals, an a cappella group.
Yael Haislip, the choral director at Padua, had Rubini in the chorus for two years.
“She is a talented young woman and a rising star in the music industry,” Haislip said.
Rubini says her father is her biggest musical influence, but there have been a lot of positive people also at St. John the Beloved and Padua. Rubini has never had any formal training. As she grew up, she discovered that she was pretty good at singing and thought it could become more than a hobby.
The Rubinis — who also include Olivia’s mother, Therese — have a small studio in their home, which allows for collaboration during free time. Rubini has done several cover songs, mostly R&B, including Rihanna and Chris Brown.
Padua sisterhood
As a student at St. John the Beloved, Rubini was fairly certain that Padua was in her future. She had an aunt who attended the school, and her father’s family was very involved with St. Anthony of Padua Parish.
“Then I got here and it was like the sisterhood makes sense, and I liked the bonding that everyone has. I feel like it’s way more closely knit than any other school that I was considering,” she said.
She is committed to her music, but college is still in the future. She anticipates studying business or management since, in the entertainment industry, each artist is like a separate business.
As she moves ahead, she would like to get more into writing. She said she can “kind of play” a number of instruments and can come up with melodies.
She has discussed her ambitions with her friends, most of whom have more traditional paths planned out.
“I’m here doing this thing that’s not so … planable,” she said. “It’s definitely what I’m totally passionate about. I could picture myself doing this forever. I just thoroughly enjoy it. When I think about doing other stuff, I’m like, meh.”
She knows the entertainment business can be intimidating, but she is determined to give it a shot.
“May as well try it now. If it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out, but I’m going to try my hardest to make something out of it. I would just rather go into it, and say I did it than never do it and then regret not doing it,” she said.
Olivia Rubini’s music is available for listening at https://soundcloud.com/oliviarubinimusic.
