Mahani Teave, the virtuoso pianist from Easter Island
Off the coast of Chile, on Easter Island, pianist Mahani Teave preferred founding a music school to an international career. A discreet artist who released, at 38, her first record.
A virtuoso from Easter Island
Once upon a time, there was a pianist who lived far, far away. Mahani Teave was born on Easter Island, or rather, as the locals call it, Rapa Nui. Because it is the Europeans who baptized it Easter Island in 1722. It is one of the most isolated places in the world, lost in the South Pacific: the nearest inhabited island is some 2000 kilometers away. Easter Island is well known for its monumental statues, the mysterious Moai: monoliths carved by the early Maori, between the 13th and 15th centuries.
An exemplary journey
And on this island, a pianist, only one to date, has became known on the international scene. In 1992, Mahani Teave was nine years old and met the Chilean pianist Roberto Bravo, who encouraged her to move to the continent to continue her musical studies. She was admitted to the Conservatory of the University of Southern Chile, won several major international competitions and then studied at the Cleveland Institute of Music in the United States and gave concerts in major venues.
“Rapa Nui Odyssey”: the first disc recorded by Mahani Teave
In 2018, David Fulton, American software magnate and rare-violin collector, came for sightseeing, during a cruise. During this tour, he discovers the Moai statues, and was invited to attend a performance at the Toki music school. He hears the students, but also Mahani. It’s love at first sight, for the talent of this discreet virtuoso. David Fulton immediately launched an album project. Mahani Teave has just released his first record, “Rapa Nui Odyssey,” on the British label Rubicon Classics. And if you want to know more about this amazing artist, she and the recording of the disc inspired a documentary, “Song of Rapa Nui”, which is available on Amazon Prime.