Award-winning pianist and humanitarian Mahani Teave is a pioneering artist who bridges the creative world with education and environmental activism, and the only professional classical musician on her native Easter Island. Her debut album, Rapa Nui Odyssey, was number one on the Billboard charts and received raves from critics, including BBC Music Magazine, which noted her “natural pianism” and “magnificent artistry.”
Her inspirational story was chronicled by 15-time Emmy Award-winning filmmaker John Forsen in a new documentary, Song of Rapa Nui, available globally on Amazon Prime Video. At 30, on the cusp of a burgeoning career, she decided to return home to found her island’s first music school, Toki Rapa Nui, a self-sustaining ecological wonder which also teaches children about renewable natural resources and their quickly-fading cultural heritage.
Mahani Teave joins us from her native Easter Island for the Series’ 25th American Recital Debut.