Lino Tagliapietra: The Making of a Maestro

This feature length documentary tells the story of Mahani Teave who grew up on Rapa Nui (Easter Island) and left at age 9 to pursue her dream of being classical pianist-a journey that takes her from mainland Chile to The Cleveland Music Institute to Berlin and the great concert halls of Europe. At the age of 30, on the brink of international success, Teave gives up her career to pursue a new dream, coming back full circle to Rapa Nui to found a free music school for the island's children. The resulting school-named Toki, after the basalt tool once used to shape Easter Island's iconic sculptures-is a model of sustainability, incorporating tons of tires, bottles and Pacific Ocean plastic; surrounded by agri-environmental gardens to grow food. With Toki, Mahani hopes to shape a bold new future for Rapa Nui and inspire hope and change on Earth, our island home.

During the late 17th and early 18th centuries, two violinmakers from the same small town, indeed, the same block, were making the most sought-after violins ever created. Everyone has heard of Antonio Stradivari, but few know the name Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù. Through interviews with historians, experts, luthiers, and virtuosos, this documentary tells the story of these two masters of violinmaking and why today their stringed instruments are worth millions of dollars to musicians and collectors the world over.

Feeling heartbroken by the tragic events of September 11th, 2001, Vi Hilbert, an 83-year-old elder from the Upper Skagit Indian tribe in the Pacific Northwest, asked the spirit, “What can one person do to heal a sick world?” The answer she received was music. The Healing Heart of Lushootseed, a short documentary film tells the extraordinary story of how a diminutive great grandmother gathered support for her most ambitious project yet, to heal the heart of the world through music. On May 20th, 2006, Seattle’s Benaroya Hall was filled to capacity for the world premiere of The Healing Heart of the First People of this Land, an orchestral work in four movements, by Canadian composer Bruce Ruddell, performed by the Seattle Symphony and mezzo soprano Jenny Knapp, conducted by Maestro Gerard Schwarz. Vi believed the Symphony should be performed around the world. The Healing Heart Project seeks to fulfill her vision.

In 1909, looking to shed its rough frontier past, the young city of Seattle decided to host a World’s Fair in the same grand spirit as those that preceded it in Chicago and St. Louis. Seattle welcomed the world to the University of Washington campus where visitors walked among palaces, saw new inventions that would change the world, and mined for mirth on the Paystreak - AYP’s Midway. Featuring thousands of historical images, rare archival footage, and contemporary interviews, the film explores the fair’s historical reverberations.