Taglines: She gave them a gift they could never imagine. They gave the system a fight it would never forget.
The Music of the Heart opens with violinist Roberta Guaspari having been deserted by her US Navy husband and feeling devastated, almost suicidal. Encouraged by her mother, she attempts to rebuild her life and a friend from student days recommends her to the head teacher of a school in the tough New York City area of East Harlem.
Despite a degree in music education, she has little experience in actual music teaching, but she’s taken on as a substitute violin teacher. With a combination of toughness and determination, she inspires a group of kids, and their initially skeptical parents. The program slowly develops and attracts publicity.
Ten years later, the string program is still running successfully at three schools, but suddenly the school budget is cut and Roberta is out of a job. Determined to fight the cuts, she enlists the support of former pupils, parents and teachers and plans a grand fund-raising concert, ‘Fiddlefest’, to raise money so that the program can continue.
But with a few weeks to go and all participants furiously rehearsing, they lose the venue. Fortunately, the husband of a publicist friend is a violinist in the Guarneri Quartet, and he enlists the support of other well-known musicians, including Isaac Stern and Itzhak Perlman. They arrange for the concert to be mounted at Carnegie Hall.
Music of the Heart is a 1999 American drama film directed by Wes Craven and written by Pamela Gray, based on the 1995 documentary Small Wonders. The film is a dramatization of the true story of Roberta Guaspari, portrayed by Meryl Streep, who co-founded the Opus 118 Harlem School of Music and fought for music education funding in New York City public schools.
The film also stars Aidan Quinn, Gloria Estefan, and Angela Bassett. It was director Wes Craven’s only foray outside of the horror/thriller genre, aside from his contribution to the multifaceted and directorially diverse Paris, je t’aime. It was also his only film to receive Academy Award nominations.
The Music of the Heart (1999)
Directed by: Wes Craven
Starring: Meryl Streep, Aidan Quinn, Angela Bassett, Jane Leeves, Cloris Leachman, Kieran Culkin, Jay O. Sanders, Michael Angarano, Jade Yorker, Barbara Gonzalez
Screenplay by: Pamela Gray
Production Design by: Bruce Alan Miller
Cinematography by: Peter Deming
Film Editing by: Gregg Featherman, Patrick Lussier
Costume Design by: Susan Lyall
Set Decoration by: George DeTitta Jr.
Art Direction by: Beth Kuhn
Music by: Mason Daring
MPAA Rating: PG for brief mild language and sensuality.
Distributed by: Miramax Films
Release Date: October 29, 1999
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