Music of the Heart 1999

Music of the Heart is a 1999 American biographical musical 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 (in her film debut), and Angela Bassett. It was director Craven’s first and only mainstream cinematic film not in the horror or thriller genre, and also his only film to receive Oscar nominations. In 1981 New York City, Roberta Guaspari, a recently divorced violinist, lives with her two sons, Alexi and Nicholas Tzavaras, and her mother, Assunta Guaspari. With Assunta’s encouragement, Guaspari attempts to rebuild her life and is recommended to the head teacher of East Harlem’s Central Park East School. Despite having little experience in actual music teaching, she accepts a substitute violin teaching position at Central Park East. With a combination of her toughness and determination, she inspires a group of children, and their initially skeptical parents. The program slowly develops and attracts publicity, eventually expanding to Central Park East II and River East Schools. Ten years later, the Central Park East, Central Park East II and River East School string programs work with the New York City Board of Education to help eliminate funding for the programs, which leads to Guaspari’s early dismissal. Determined to fight the budget cuts, she enlists the support of former pupils, parents and teachers and plans a benefit 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. However, Arnold Steinhardt, 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. On the day of Fiddlefest, Guaspari and her students perform with Perlman, Steinhardt, Stern, Mark O’Connor, Michael Tree, Charles Veal Jr., Karen Briggs, Sandra Park, Diane Monroe, and Joshua Bell, increasing donations and making the event a massive success. In the epilogue, descriptions show Guaspari and the Opus 118 program’s activities after the events in 1991. Soundtrack album track listing “Music of My Heart“ - Gloria Estefan and *NSYNC (4:32) “Baila“ - Jennifer Lopez (3:54) “Turn the Page“ - Aaliyah (4:16) “Groove with Me Tonight“ (Pablo Flores English radio version) - MDO (4:37) “Seventeen“ - Tre O (3:48) “One Night with You“ - C Note (5:04) “Do Something“ (Organized Noize Mix) - Macy Gray (3:53) “Revancha de Amor“ - Gizelle d’Cole (4:06) “Nothing Else“ - Julio Iglesias Jr. (4:23) “Love Will Find You“ - Jaci Velasquez (4:34) “Music of My Heart“ (Lawrence Dermer Remix); mislabeled as “Pablo Flores Remix“ - Gloria Estefan and [club185796535|4:23] “Concerto in D Minor for Two Violins“ - Johann Sebastian Bach, played by Itzhak Perlman and Joshua Bell (3:56) Meryl Streep as Roberta Guaspari Aidan Quinn as Brian Turner, Roberta’s love interest Angela Bassett as Janet Williams, school principal Gloria Estefan as Isabel Vasquez, a teacher Cloris Leachman as Assunta Vitali Guaspari, Roberta’s mother Josh Pais as Dennis Rausch Jane Leeves as Dorothea von Haeften, a wealthy socialite Kieran Culkin as Alexi Tzavaras, Roberta’s son Michael Angarano as Nick Tzavaras, Roberta’s son Jay O. Sanders as Dan Paxton Jean-Luke Figueroa as Ramone Olivas, a student Olga Merediz as Ms. Olivas, Ramone’s mother Adam LeFevre as Mr. Klein Charlie Hofheimer as Nicholas Tzavaras, Roberta’s son Betsy Aidem as Mrs. Lamb Itzhak Perlman, Arnold Steinhardt, Isaac Stern, Mark O’Connor, Michael Tree, Charles Veal Jr., Karen Briggs, Sandra Park, Diane Monroe, and Joshua Bell all cameo as themselves in the film’s recreation of the Carnegie Hall benefit concert (at which all were actually present). Roberta Guaspari and the Opus 118 Harlem School of Music was featured in the 1995 documentary film Small Wonders, which was later nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. After seeing Small Wonders, Wes Craven, known for his work on horror films, was inspired to make a full-length film about Guaspari. Madonna was originally signed to play the role of Guaspari, but left the project before filming began, citing “creative differences“ with Craven. When she left, Madonna had already studied for many months to play the violin.[2] Streep learned to play Bach’s Concerto for 2 Violins for the film. The film marked the screen debut of singer Gloria Estefan.