Music of the Heart

Music of the Heart is a 1999 drama filmThis film was produced by Craven-Maddalena Films and Miramax films, and distributed by Buena Vista Distribution.

This film stars Meryl Streep, Aiden Quinn, Gloria Estefan, and Angela Bassett.

This is the true story of Roberta Guaspari (Streep). By bringing the violin into the lives of children in the New York Citypublic school system, she hopes to brighten their difficult lives. It's a story of both struggle and hope.

Described in the opening credits as being 'inspired by a documentary,' the film opens with Roberta having been deserted by her husband and feeling devastated, almost suicidal. Encouraged by her mother, she attempts to rebuild her life and a friend 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 manages to inspire a group of kids, and their initially very skeptical parents. The program slowly develops and attracts publicity.

Ten years later, the string program is still running successfully, 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 a string 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 join in the performance, which is a resounding success.