Petesa UTA — Tonight one of the most successful piano studios  on island — Dancing Fingers — will celebrate its tenth year anniversary with a special piano recital, to be held in the evening, at the Calvary Temple AOG at Lepuapua, Leone.  According to its founder, Mr. Poe Mageo, this will also be its last public performance as a school.

Since it opened in 2004, Dancing Fingers has staged an Annual Fall Classical Piano Recital in October and the Annual Spring Concert in April and their public performances were always free of charge.

Next spring, he plans to present a variety of theme-related concerts with upcoming student-musicians/ artists/ vocalists along with the Strings of Psalms, a children’s violin orchestra he put together three years ago for Calvary Temple AOG.

“I will keep my studio, but I won't be able to teach piano as much as I used to. In August I moved to the Fine Arts Dept. of ASCC to teach music full-time. Thus, I need to concentrate on my new assignment,” Mageo said.

This will be the school’s 20th public performance, albeit sadly their last one, as of now.

To celebrate this important milestone, the school has invited its Patron of Arts, the Hon. Gov. Lolo and First Lady Cynthia Moliga, along with Lt. Gov. Lemanu Peleti and Mrs. Pohakalani Mauga, to join the students and their families.

At 6:00 p.m. the recital begins with a prayer by Pastor Vickie Haleck of the Teen Challenge Ministries. As part of the celebration, the school will feature Carolyn Delgado, a pianist, as a guest artist as well as a special performance by the Strings of Psalms.

For a decade, Dancing Fingers has become the gold standard of classical music in American Samoa. Throughout the years, the school has performed a repertoire fit for any world-class concert pianist. It too covered a range of works from the Baroque Era to the Romantics, from Bach to Beethoven, from Clementi to Chopin, from a minuet to a mazurka, from a tarantella to a sonata. Some of the most beloved piano works the school had performed included Chopin's “Nocturne in E flat major,” Debussy’s “Claire de lune,” Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata,” Rachmaninoff's “Prelude in G minor, Op. 23 #6,” and Mozart's “Rondo all turca.” Beethoven's “Für Elise” became the most performed while Mozart's “Sonata III” became the longest since it featured all three movements.

The only two government officials to ever give a command performance on the piano were former Congressman Faleomavaega Eni Hunkin and former Governor Togiola Tulafono. Pianist Vaa Tofaeono was featured as a guest artist three times.

At one time, Dancing Fingers presented Jazz-a-ganza-rhythmic, which featured works by modern jazz innovator Bill Evans. They have also performed the entire score (piano arrangements) for musicals such as The Lion King and The Sound of Music. 

“I never dreamed that my students would love classical music... even the parents and the audience find it very uplifitng,” said Mageo, who studied piano at Bethany Bible College in Santa Cruz, CA, with Prof. Kathryn Pippo Wilson.

Mageo's students have performed at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Recital Hall as well as the Frederick Loewe Performing Hall of the University of Redlands School of Music. Four of his students gave a command performance for Independent Samoa's Head of State, the Honorable Tuiatua Tupua Tamasese Efi and Masiofo Filifilia at Robert Louis Stevenson Museum in Vailima. During the same trip, they were invited to perform at the National University of Samoa at Le Papaigalagala.

Besides giving private piano lessons, Mageo is ready to launch a homecoming sing-along ministry, which will feature some of the pioneers of the Assemblies of God church in American Samoa. “I grew up in Gospel music, and I feel that this is something I need to give back to God for all that He has done in my life,” said Mageo. 

His new project will feature some of the well-known singers/ artists/ musicians within the local Assemblies of God churches such as Pastor Mose Katina, Violet Richmond, Rev. Max Haleck, Jr. Family (“The Harvest Singers”), Pastor Viliamu Paaga, John and Dorothy Marsh, Ana Hargett, Rev. Siaosi I. Mageo Family (“Praising Voices”), Rev. Faalogou Fale's family from Aua Assembly of God and many more. 

Mageo says he wishes to thank the Almighty for allowing him the opportunity to share his talent with the children of American Samoa. He also wants to thank the people of American Samoa for the support given to his small piano studio over the years. “I always believe that music has the power to transform lives,” said Mageo.
 

Source: Dancing Fingers media release