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Building Easter Island’s first music school

The pianist who built Easter Island’s first music school…

Gramophone magazine on Mahani Teave’s Rapa Nui Odyssey: “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.

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