WEBVTT 00:00.390 --> 00:04.360 JUDY WOODRUFF: Finally tonight, a pianist who found a way to bring her music to the 00:04.360 --> 00:09.360 world and music education to her remote island home. Jeffrey Brown tells the story of her 00:10.760 --> 00:15.760 unusual journey and her new album, as part of our ongoing arts and culture series, Canvas. 00:17.779 --> 00:22.779 JEFFREY BROWN: Called Rapa Nui in the Polynesian language, Easter Island sits in the middle 00:23.949 --> 00:28.949 of the South Pacific Ocean, more than 2,000 miles off the coast of Chile. It's home to 00:30.520 --> 00:35.520 about 7,000 residents and some of the world's most stunning scenery, including about 1,000 00:36.440 --> 00:41.440 giant statues known as moai. It's also home to 38 year-old Mahani Teave. Teave recorded 00:52.839 --> 00:57.839 this version of Chopin's Scherzo No. 1 in B Minor for her debut album, "Rapa Nui Odyssey." 00:59.140 --> 01:04.140 And in March, the album climbed to the top of Billboard's classical charts, a remarkable 01:05.920 --> 01:10.750 development for a woman who grew up on one of the most remote spots on the globe. MAHANI 01:10.750 --> 01:15.140 TEAVE, Musician: As a child, I never felt isolated. In fact, in the beginning, I thought 01:15.140 --> 01:19.270 this was the whole planet. JEFFREY BROWN: But she told me from near her home on Rapa 01:19.270 --> 01:24.270 Nui there was a big problem. MAHANI TEAVE: It was difficult to have dreams of some kind 01:24.619 --> 01:29.619 and want to pursue some artistic talent, for example, and not have the possibilities. Like, 01:30.220 --> 01:35.220 people would come for a year and teach something, ballet or theater or something else. And then 01:36.120 --> 01:41.000 they would leave. JEFFREY BROWN: Pianos were almost nonexistent on the island. Teave's 01:41.000 --> 01:46.000 introduction came from a visiting teacher. She fell in love with the sound, and her talent 01:46.340 --> 01:51.340 was soon recognized, but then another barrier. To really advance she'd have to leave her 01:57.509 --> 02:02.509 island home. A Chilean music conservatory came first, then top-flight training in Cleveland, 02:04.210 --> 02:09.210 followed by Berlin. By her 20s, Teave had earned a spot on the international concert 02:16.010 --> 02:21.010 stage and was on the cusp of a promising career. MAHANI TEAVE: I never imagined myself going 02:22.430 --> 02:27.430 - - performing every other day in a different place. That was never my goal. My goal always 02:28.410 --> 02:33.410 was -- when I was with these amazing teachers, was to find the maximum beauty I could find 02:36.230 --> 02:41.230 in these pieces. JEFFREY BROWN: But nearly 10 years ago, she walked away and returned 02:48.519 --> 02:53.519 home to create something she never had growing up, a music school on Easter Island. Did you 02:56.950 --> 03:01.950 feel a -- almost a responsibility, like you're the only one who could do this? MAHANI TEAVE: 03:02.840 --> 03:07.840 Everybody who's here loves being here, and everybody who's far away dreams of someday 03:08.600 --> 03:13.600 coming back and will someday come back. And I felt that nobody else would understand maybe 03:15.530 --> 03:20.530 or would be able to do this, because I had been the one that had had the chance to study 03:23.129 --> 03:28.129 the music. I had had the chance to go abroad and be with amazing teachers and listen to 03:29.370 --> 03:34.370 incredible musicians. I felt in a way then it's just what I had to do. JEFFREY BROWN: 03:34.850 --> 03:39.850 We first met Teave in 2018 at the school she helped create called the Toki School of Music. 03:41.189 --> 03:46.189 We were on the island as part of our reporting on the rise of plastic pollution around the 03:46.709 --> 03:51.709 globe. The school represents another of her concerns, for the environment. It was partially 03:55.250 --> 04:00.250 constructed out of thousands of cans and bottles and other waste left behind from the more 04:00.400 --> 04:05.400 than 100,000 tourists who normally visit the island every year. There's also been an influx 04:08.170 --> 04:13.170 of garbage steadily washing ashore in recent years. MAHANI TEAVE: All the currents in the 04:13.200 --> 04:18.200 Pacific come to this vortex in which Rapa Nui is in the middle. So, we receive the garbage 04:19.140 --> 04:23.980 from China, from New Zealand, from Chile, from the United States, from everywhere. So, 04:23.980 --> 04:28.980 at least, in Toki, we feel that, if we can contribute to offering solutions to the different 04:31.160 --> 04:36.160 problems that we're facing as a civilization, then maybe we can inspire other places as 04:37.580 --> 04:42.580 well. JEFFREY BROWN: More than 100 students train at the school, receiving lessons in 04:44.740 --> 04:49.740 both classical and traditional Rapa Nui music. MAHANI TEAVE: Here on the island, we have 04:51.470 --> 04:56.470 a very, very strong identity. And that's what's beautiful of the island. And in our school, 05:00.020 --> 05:05.020 we want to preserve that as well, that our children learn as much as they can of our 05:05.180 --> 05:10.180 culture. JEFFREY BROWN: I will never forget visiting your school, and even just how hard 05:10.370 --> 05:15.370 it was for you -- you wanted to play for us, but how hard it was for you to find an instrument 05:16.270 --> 05:21.270 you felt was good enough for our cameras, right? MAHANI TEAVE: Oh, Jeff, you have no 05:21.650 --> 05:26.650 idea the difficulties we have faced. I mean, somehow, our goal was, the music has to continue 05:29.870 --> 05:34.870 and we found a way to make it continue. JEFFREY BROWN: That includes during the pandemic, 05:35.530 --> 05:40.530 which has hurt Rapa Nui's economy through the loss of tourism. By chance, though, this 05:40.770 --> 05:45.770 became the moment Teave reintroduced herself to the outside world. On a visit to the island 05:46.580 --> 05:51.580 three years ago, Seattle-based arts patron David Fulton heard Teave play and convinced 05:52.880 --> 05:57.880 her to come to the U.S. to record. Now the album is out. In addition, a new documentary 06:06.610 --> 06:11.610 on Amazon tells the story of her life and home. It's called "Song of Rapa Nui." MAHANI 06:13.610 --> 06:18.610 TEAVE: Here on the island, there's an artistic blood in everybody. It just -- I mean, everybody 06:19.881 --> 06:24.881 somehow sings and dances and carves and -- or plays an instrument. And there's nothing more 06:28.090 --> 06:33.090 natural and more true to the human being than art and music. JEFFREY BROWN: All of it adding 06:40.440 --> 06:45.440 new wonder and beauty to one of the world's most remarkable places. For the "PBS NewsHour," 06:47.680 --> 06:52.680 I'm Jeffrey Brown. JUDY WOODRUFF: Such beautiful music and such a beautiful place.