About
MAHANI TEAVE, pianist, activist, educator
A pioneering artist bridging the creative world and societal boundaries with environmental activism, pianist Mahani Teave is the only professional classical musician on her native Easter Island, serving as an important cultural ambassador to this legendary, cloistered area of Chile.
Having twice been distinguished as one of the 100 Women Leaders of her country, Mahani has performed for the past five presidents of Chile, the Chilean Congress, Embassies in Chile, Germany, Indonesia, Mexico, China, Japan, Ecuador, Korea, Mexico and beyond in symbolic places including the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin and Chile’s Palacio de La Moneda. Her strong belief in the profound, healing power of music, however, led Mahani to not only perform in the world’s foremost concert halls on six continents, but in hospitals, schools, jails, and low income areas with the intent of bringing comfort, joy, and hope to others.
A passion for classical music, her local culture, and the environment of her island, along with an intense commitment to high-quality music education for children, inspired Mahani to found the non-profit organization Toki Rapa Nui with her husband Enrique Icka, creating the first School of Music and the Arts of Easter Island. The school offers both classical and traditional Polynesian lessons in various instruments to over 70 children. Toki Rapa Nui provides not only musical, but cultural, social and ecological support for its students and the area. The school’s infrastructure, recognized by Recyclápolis Environmental National Award and built by the organization, is completely self-sustaining and unique in Latin America and Polynesia; it uses recyclable materials, solar energy and water collectors, and the organization has developed a large organic agro-ecological project to help create a more environmentally sound island.
Mahani is the winner of numerous international piano competitions and awards, including the APES Prize for best classical music performance in Chile (where she performed Rachmaninov’s Concerto No. 1 with the Orquesta Sinfonica de Chile), the Claudio Arrau International Piano Competition, the Merit Prize (arts) from Andrés Bello University, and the Cleveland Institute of Music’s Concerto Competition. In addition, she received the Advancement of Women Award from Scotiabank for her leadership and work promoting music on Easter Island, and was made honorary VP of the World Indigenous Business Forum in 2017.
Making her debut at the age of nine, Mahani joined famed Chilean pianist Roberto Bravo on a series of concert tours. She earned her Bachelor of Music degree, with highest honors, from Austral University in Valdivia, Chile, where she studied with Ximena Cabello, her Masters degree at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she studied with Sergei Babayan, and completed her post-graduate studies in Berlin, Germany, studying with Fabio Bidini at the Hanns Eisler Musik Hochschule.
Mahani is a Steinway artist and currently lives on Easter Island, combining concert tours with leading the Music School and motherhood. Her debut recording, Rapa Nui Odyssey; A Mahani Teave Piano Recital, will be released in January of 2021 on the Rubicon Classics Label. Also forthcoming is a new documentary film by fifteen-time Emmy award-winning producer and director John Forsen, who was inspired to tell the unique story of Mahani’s personal and artistic journey.
Press
Quotes About Special Project: Rapa Nui Odyssey, Mahani Teave, piano
“Some of the pieces [on the album] are fiendishly difficult, yet she makes their realization seem effortless. Dazzle sets in right away. Swoon-inducing…masterful…exceptional performances.”
Tokusen (CD of the month)
“…this recording is filled with wonderful elegance…Chopin’s “Barcarolle” reminds me of Dinu Lipatti.”
Virtuoso pianist
Breadth and grandeur… heroic rhetoric and caressing lyricism… exquisitely poised… genuine eloquence. As fulfilling and enriching the musical culture of Rapa Nui surely must be, one hopes that Mahani Teave will somehow find a way to share her beautifully wrought, heartfelt pianism with audiences beyond her remote island.
Teave’s Chopin-playing inhabits a world all its own, almost painterly in its subtle colours and marked everywhere by an exquisitely poised cantabile… a sensitive diptych of genuine eloquence
“A stunning new album”
“Natural pianism. There’s genuine virtuosity, without one note of bluff, bluster or vulgarity….wide expressive range exquisitely controlled and intensely poetic…sincere, pure and magnificent artistry. “
“This isn’t your ordinary “Piano Recital!!” Perhaps being raised on a remote island in the South Pacific brings with it a nuanced suavity. Mahani Teave’s style has a gauzy, breezy trim in the sails. What a sendoff!”
“She is regarded as one of the region’s finest pianists.”
“The young virtuoso…impressed with her talent, skill, and aplomb… Received Standing Ovation at Concert at the Embassy of Chile.”
“An extraordinary Easter Island performance spread music to America, and beyond.”
“Mahani starts talking and we automatically go into “listening mode.” Tempered voice, calm and emphatic attitude at the same time; a woman with great charisma and a wisdom that is overwhelming given her early 36 years. Pianist, director of an NGO, mother, referent of an original culture. It is not surprising, then, that in 2007 she was chosen among the 100 Women Leaders in the country, by the Mujeres Empresarias foundation and the newspaper El Mercurio, and that in 2016 she was distinguished with the Advancement of Women Award, from Scotiabank, for her leadership, discipline and entrepreneurial capacity.”
“Mahani Teave—guardian of the island’s traditions and an internationally recognized pianist.”
“Few artists, and more so when it comes to someone who has dedicated his life to reviving the greats of classical music, have achieved what the Chilean pianist Mahani Teave achieved on September 30 at the Víctor Hugo Rascón Banda venue…inexhaustible energy and passion.”
“the outstanding national artist captivated the audience”
“Cool women: Mahani Teave, the virtuoso pianist”
Articles About Special Project: Rapa Nui Odyssey, Mahani Teave, piano
From Easter Island, a Pianist Emerges… Mahani Teave is featured in The New York Times about the release of her debut album, Rapa Nui Odyssey, and Song of Rapa Nui, the documentary film made about her journey.
“Tthis isn’t your ordinary “Piano Recital!!” Concertonet says, “Perhaps being raised on a remote island in the South Pacific brings with it a nuanced suavity. Mahani Teave’s style has a gauzy, breezy trim in the sails. What a splendid sendoff.”
“In the end, every career is a moonshot,” said Matthew Gurewitsch in Graydon Carter’s Air Mail, where he chats with the pianist on the heels of the release of her debut disc. They talk about how while she was still in her 20s, she had begun to make her mark in competitions and the concert circuit….yet Rapa Nui was calling her back. “There was this umbilical cord connecting me to the island,” Teave recalls. “‘Honey,’ it was saying, ‘you’ve had all these opportunities. There are lots of other children back home waiting to have them, too. Only you can do this.”
Pianist and humanitarian Mahani Teave chatted with Gramophone magazine about her newly released debut recording. “With its heart-warming narrative and underlying message of hope, resilience and empathy, the story of how pianist Mahani Teave came to make her debut recording reads like a fairy tale. (Little wonder that an Emmy Award-winning producer has been inspired to
make a film about it.) But behind most fairy tales are some familiar ingredients: determination, self-belief, a desire to make the world a better place – and a little bit of luck. And Mahani Teave is no exception.”
Rapa Nui Odyssey; A Mahani Teave Piano Recital is the debut recording (released January 29) of the pioneering artist who bridges the creative world with environmental activism. Teave’s story is that of a young woman who grew up on Rapa Nui (Easter Island) and left to pursue her dream of being classical pianist, but at the age of 30, on the brink of international success, Teave gave up her career to pursue a new dream, returning to Rapa Nui to found a free music school for the island’s children. She has since become an important cultural ambassador, and icon for her work bridging the creative world with environmental activism. Fifteen-time Emmy award-winning producer and director John Forsen was so inspired by her story, he made a documentary, Song of Rapa Nui, just released on Amazon Prime
Photos
Media
Mahani Teave, Song of Rapa Nui documentary teaser
Teaser for feature length documentary about Mahani Teave's personal and artistic journey, by fifteen-time Emmy award-winning producer director John Forsen.
Mahani Teave NPR Tiny Desk (Home) Concert
NPR Tiny Desk (Home) Concerts visits its most far-flung location yet - Easter Island - where "classical music thrives there – thanks largely to Mahani Teave... She begins with a sparkling Allemande by Handel, followed by a beguiling performance of a Chopin Nocturne....and closes with an ancestral song."
Mahani Teave, Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 1 – 1st mvt
Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 1 - I. Vivace
Mahani Teave, piano
Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra
Mahani Teave on PBS NewsHour
In bringing the Song of Rapa Nui to the world, pianist brings music education home. Mahani Teave grew up on one of the most remote islands on Earth, but the 38-year-old pianist still found a way to bring her music to the world — and music education to Rapa Nui. Jeffrey Brown tells the story of her unusual journey and her new album as part of our ongoing arts and culture series, CANVAS.
Mahani Teave on CBS Sunday Morning
Building Easter Island's first music school. Correspondent Kelefa Sanneh talked with Teave about preserving native traditions and fostering music education on a tiny spot in the Pacific.
Discography
The remarkable debut album of Easter Island's only classical musician, pianist/educator/activist and Steinway artist Mahani Teave.