Music of the heart

Directed by Wes Craven
Produced by Susan Kaplan
Marianne Maddalena
Allan Miller
Walter Scheuer
Written by Pamela Gray
Starring Meryl Streep
Gloria Estefan
Angela Bassett
Aidan Quinn
Cloris Leachman
Jane Leeves
Kieran Culkin
Charlie Hofheimer
Music by Mason Daring
Cinematography Peter Deming
Edited by Gregg Featherman
Patrick Lussier
Distributed by Miramax Films
Release dates October 29, 1999
Running time 123 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $27 million
Box office $14,936,407

Music of the Heart is a 1999 drama film, directed by Wes Craven and written by Pamela Gray. It was produced by Craven-Maddalena Films and Miramax Films, and distributed by
Buena Vista Distribution . 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. 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.
Plot
The film 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 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 .
Other famous musicians, including
Mark O'Connor , Michael Tree, Charles Veal Jr., Arnold Steinhardt, Karen Briggs , Sandra Park, Diane Monroe, and Joshua Bell, join in the performance, which is a resounding success.
The film's end credits declare that the Opus 118 program is still running successfully. They also report that the school's funding was restored during the making of the film.
Cast
Meryl Streep as Roberta Guaspari
Angela Bassett as Janet Williams, school principal
Gloria Estefan as Isabel Vasquez, a teacher
Cloris Leachman as Assunta Vitali Guaspari , Roberta's mother
Jane Leeves as Dorothea von Haeften, a wealthy socialite
Jean-Luke Figueroa as Ramone Olivas, a student
Olga Merediz as Ms. Olivas, Ramone's mother
Charlie Hofheimer as Nicholas Tzavaras, Roberta's son
Kieran Culkin as Alexi Tzavaras, Roberta's son
Aidan Quinn as Brian Turner, Roberta's love interest