Pianist Mahani Teave has roots on Easter Island. After a growing international career, she returned to the island to open a music school there, the island's first.
Teave's father was a member of the Rapa Nui ethnic group, a Polynesian people that make up the bulk of the population of Easter Island, itself called Rapa Nui in the local language. Her mother was American, and she was born in Hawaii on February 14, 1983, and grew up on Easter Island. There was only one piano there and one piano teacher, but Teave became fascinated by classical music and practiced for hours. Classi...