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
Easter Island pianist, educator, and environmental activist Mahani Teave will be featured on Good Morning America Thursday March 2, where she will perform and chat about her life and music, Toki Rapa Nui (the very first music school on the island that she founded), her work towards environmental sustainability, and more.
NPR’s Tom Huizenga chose Mahani Teave’s Tiny Desk (home) concert from Rapa Nui as the Best of 2021: “It’s not only the fine performances, but also the fairytale-like backstory which clinches this as my favorite Tiny Desk (home) concert of the year.”
Steinway artist Mahani Teave joins Ben Finane on its Soundbard podcast to talk about music, pianos, and her new album.
Pianist, educator, and humanitarian Mahani Teave and Jeffrey Brown talk about her remarkable journey from Easter Island and back via Cleveland, Germany and concert halls across the world on PBS Newshour.
Textura reviews Mahani Teave’s “exceptional performances” on her Song of Rapa Nui album, calling her playing “swoon-inducing, dazzling, and masterful.”
Mahani Teave featured on Radio New Zealand’s Afternoons with Jesse Mulligan
Mahani Teave and Bill O’Connell of WCLV radio chat about her life journey, and her time studying at the Cleveland Institute of Music.
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.