''Music of the Heart'' is a 1999 American

biographical A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Wes Craven Wesley Earl Craven (August 2, 1939 – August 30, 2015) was an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and editor. Craven has commonly been recognized as one of the greatest masters of the horror genre due to the cultural imp ...

and written by

Pamela Gray Pamela Gray (born 1956) is an American screenwriter. Biography Gray was raised in a Jewish family in New York City, the daughter of a salesman and a schoolteacher.

, based on the 1995 documentary ''

Small Wonders ''Small Wonders'' (also known as ''Fiddlefest'') is a 1995 American documentary film about Roberta Guaspari, a music teacher in East Harlem who teaches underprivileged children how to play the violin. Produced and directed by Allan Miller, it w ...

''. The film is a dramatization of the true story of

Roberta Guaspari Roberta Guaspari (born September 15, 1947) is an American violinist and music educator. She is known for her work in Harlem, New York, where she taught during the 1980s and 1990s to keep music alive in inner-city schools. She was portrayed on fil ...

, portrayed by

Meryl Streep Mary Louise Meryl Streep (born June 22, 1949) is an American actress. Often described as "the best actress of her generation", Streep is particularly known for her versatility and accent adaptability. She has received numerous accolades throu ...

, 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 Aidan Quinn (born March 8, 1959) is an American actor who made his film debut in '' Reckless'' (1984). He has starred in over 80 feature films, including ''Desperately Seeking Susan'' (1985), '' The Mission'' (1986), ''Stakeout'' (1987), ''Aval ...

Gloria Estefan Gloria Estefan (; born Gloria María Milagrosa Fajardo García; born 1 September 1957) is a Cuban-American singer, actress, and businesswoman. Estefan is a seven-time Grammy Award winner, a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, and has been ...

(in her film debut), and

Angela Bassett Angela Evelyn Bassett (born August 16, 1958) is an American actress. She had her breakthrough with her portrayal of singer Tina Turner in the biopic ''What's Love Got to Do with It'' (1993), which garnered her a nomination for the Academy Award ...

. 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 Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology), ...

nominations.

Plot

In 1981 New York City,

, 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 East Harlem, also known as Spanish Harlem or and historically known as Italian Harlem, is a neighborhood of Upper Manhattan, New York City, roughly encompassing the area north of the Upper East Side and bounded by 96th Street to the south, F ...

'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 The Panel for Educational Policy of the Department of Education of the City School District of the City of New York, abbreviated as the Panel for Educational Policy and also known as the New York City Board of Education, is the governing body of ...

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 A benefit concert or charity concert is a type of musical benefit performance (e.g., concert, show, or gala) featuring musicians, comedians, or other performers that is held for a charitable purpose, often directed at a specific and immediate hu ...

, 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 Arnold Steinhardt (born 1937 in Los Angeles, California) is an American violinist, best known as the first violinist of the Guarneri String Quartet. Steinhardt made his debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra at the age of 14. He studied ...

, the husband of a publicist friend, is a violinist in the

Guarneri Quartet The Guarneri Quartet was an American string quartet founded in 1964 at the Marlboro Music School and Festival. It was admired for its rich, warm, complex tone and its bold, dramatic interpretations of the quartet literature, with a particular aff ...

, and he enlists the support of other well-known musicians, including

Isaac Stern Isaac Stern (July 21, 1920 – September 22, 2001) was an American violinist. Born in Poland, Stern came to the US when he was 14 months old. Stern performed both nationally and internationally, notably touring the Soviet Union and China, and ...

and

Itzhak Perlman Itzhak Perlman ( he, יצחק פרלמן; born August 31, 1945) is an Israeli-American violinist widely considered one of the greatest violinists in the world. Perlman has performed worldwide and throughout the United States, in venues that hav ...

. They arrange for the concert to be mounted at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

. On the day of Fiddlefest, Guaspari and her students perform with Perlman, Steinhardt, Stern,

Mark O'Connor Mark O'Connor (born August 5, 1961) is an American fiddle player and composer whose music combines bluegrass, country, jazz and classical. A three-time Grammy Award winner, he has won six Country Music Association Musician Of The Year awards ...

Michael Tree Michael Tree (February 19, 1934 – March 30, 2018), born Michael Applebaum, was an American violist. Biography Tree was born in Newark, New Jersey. His principal studies were with Efrem Zimbalist on violin and viola at the Curtis Institute o ...

, Charles Veal Jr., Karen Briggs, Sandra Park, Diane Monroe, and

Joshua Bell Joshua David Bell (born December 9, 1967) is an American violinist and conductor. He plays the Gibson Stradivarius. Early life and education Bell was born in Bloomington, Indiana, to Shirley Bell, a therapist, and Alan P. Bell, a psychologis ...

, 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.

Cast

as Brian Turner, Roberta's love interest *

as Janet Williams, school principal *

as Isabel Vasquez, a teacher *

Cloris Leachman Cloris Leachman (April 30, 1926 – January 27, 2021) was an American actress and comedian whose career spanned nearly eight decades. She won many accolades, including eight Primetime Emmy Awards from 22 nominations, making her the most nomin ...

as Assunta Vitali Guaspari, Roberta's mother *

Josh Pais Joshua Atwill Pais (born June 21, 1958) is an American actor and acting coach. He has appeared in the films ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' (1990), ''Music of the Heart'' (1999), ''Assassination of a High School President'' (2008), '' I Saw the ...

as Dennis Rausch *

Jane Leeves Jane Elizabeth Leeves (born 18 April 1961) is an English actress. Leeves played Daphne Moon on the NBC television sitcom ''Frasier'' from 1993 until 2004, for which she was nominated for an Emmy Awards, Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Awards, Gold ...

as Dorothea von Haeften, a wealthy socialite *

Kieran Culkin Kieran Kyle Culkin (born September 30, 1982) is an American actor. The brother of actors Macaulay and Rory, he began his career as a child actor in the films ''Home Alone'' (1990), ''Father of the Bride'' (1991)'', The Mighty'' (1998), and ''Th ...

as Alexi Tzavaras, Roberta's son *

Michael Angarano Michael Anthony Angarano (born December 3, 1987) is an American actor. He became known for his roles in the film '' Music of the Heart'' (1999) and the television series '' Cover Me'' (2000–2001), as well as for playing a recurring role as Ell ...

as Nick Tzavaras, Roberta's son *

Jay O. Sanders Jay Olcutt Sanders (born April 16, 1953) is an American film, theatre and television actor and playwright. He frequently appears in plays off-Broadway at The Public Theatre. Early life and education Sanders was born on April 16, 1953 in Austin, ...

as Dan Paxton * Jean-Luke Figueroa as Ramone Olivas, a student *

Olga Merediz Olga Merediz (born February 15, 1956) is an American actress and singer. Merediz originated the role of Abuela Claudia in the Broadway musical ''In the Heights'', for which she received a Tony Award nomination for Best Performance by a Featured ...

as Ms. Olivas, Ramone's mother *

Adam LeFevre Adam LeFevre (born August 11, 1950) is an American character actor, poet, and playwright who works in cinema, television, theater and commercials. Biography LeFevre was born in Albany, New York, the son of Helen (née Rhodes), a hospital patient ...

as Mr. Klein *

Charlie Hofheimer Charlie Hofheimer (born April 17, 1981) is an American film, television, and theater actor. He landed his first film role as Jim Garland in the 1994 version of '' Lassie''. He is known for his role as Abe Drexler on ''Mad Men''. He has also mad ...

as Nicholas Tzavaras, Roberta's son *

Betsy Aidem Betsy Aidem (born October 28, 1957) is an American actress who plays for film, television and stage. Her film work includes ''The Bleeding House'', '' See You in the Morning'', '' A Vigilante'' and '' Aeris''. Her television work includes '' The ...

as Mrs. Lamb

, Charles Veal Jr., Karen Briggs, Sandra Park, Diane Monroe, and

all cameo as themselves in the film's recreation of the Carnegie Hall benefit concert (at which all were actually present).

Production

Roberta Guaspari and the Opus 118 Harlem School of Music was featured in the 1995 documentary film ''

'', which was later nominated for an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

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 Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

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. Streep learned to play Bach's Concerto for 2 Violins for the film. The film marked the screen debut of singer

."Review: 'Music of the Heart' hits all the right notes"
CNN, October 29, 1999. Accessed January 28, 2007.

Critical reception

The film received mixed reception, though many reviews tended to be slightly positive. Most critics applauded Meryl Streep's portrayal of

. The film had a 64% approval rating at

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

CinemaScore CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data. Background Ed Mintz founded Ci ...

reported that audiences gave the film a rare "A+" grade. Critic Eleanor Ringel Gillespie of the ''

Atlanta Journal-Constitution ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the only major daily newspaper in the metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the result of the merger between ...

'' concluded that "There are more challenging movies around. More original ones, too. But "Music of the Heart" gets the job done, efficiently and entertainingly."

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

gave the film three stars out of four and wrote that "Meryl Streep is known for her mastery of accents; she may be the most versatile speaker in the movies. Here you might think she has no accent, unless you've heard her real speaking voice; then you realize that Guaspari's speaking style is no less a particular achievement than Streep's other accents. This is not Streep's voice, but someone else's - with a certain flat quality, as if later education and refinement came after a somewhat unsophisticated childhood." Steve Rosen said that "The key to Meryl Streep's fine performance is that she makes Guaspari unheroically ordinary. Ultimately that makes her even more extraordinary." In 2014, the movie was one of several discussed by

Keli Goff Keli Goff (born July 20, 1979) is an American producer, playwright, screenwriter and journalist. She is a contributor to various news outlets and has written for a number of popular television shows, including And Just Like That..., the reboo ...

in ''

The Daily Beast ''The Daily Beast'' is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. It was founded in 2008. It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief from 2018 to 2021. In a 20 ...

'' in an article concerning white savior narratives in film.

Box office

The film opened at #5 at the North American box office making $3.6 million in its opening weekend.

Accolades

Soundtrack album track listing

# "

Music of My Heart "Music of My Heart" is a song by Cuban American recording artist Gloria Estefan and American boy band NSYNC. The teen pop song was written by Diane Warren and produced by David Foster, for the Wes Craven-directed movie ''Music of the Heart'' (199 ...

" -

and *NSYNC (4:32) # "Baila" -

Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Affleck (' Lopez; born July 24, 1969), also known as J.Lo, is an American singer, actress and dancer. In 1991, she began appearing as a Fly Girl dancer on the sketch comedy television series ''In Living Color'', where she rema ...

(3:54) # "Turn the Page" -

Aaliyah Aaliyah Dana Haughton (; January 16, 1979 – August 25, 2001) was an American singer and actress. She has been credited for helping to redefine contemporary R&B, pop and hip hop, earning her the nicknames the "Princess of R&B" and " ...

(4:16) # "Groove with Me Tonight" (

Pablo Flores Pablo Flores is a Puerto Rican DJ, record producer, remixer and arranger. Remixes for Gloria Estefan * " Abriendo Puertas" * " Bad Boy" * "Bailando!'" (Special edition Megamix) * " Betcha Say That" * "Cherchez La Femme" * "Como Me Duele Perder ...

English radio version) - MDO (4:37) # "Seventeen" - Tre O (3:48) # "One Night with You" - C Note (5:04) # "Do Something" (

Organized Noize Organized Noize is an American production team from Atlanta, Georgia composed of Rico Wade, Ray Murray and Sleepy Brown. History Among the hit records they have worked on include TLC's "Waterfalls", En Vogue's "Don't Let Go (Love)", and Luda ...

Mix) -

Macy Gray Natalie Renée McIntyre (born September 6, 1967), known by her stage name Macy Gray, is an American R&B and soul singer and actress. She is known for her distinctive raspy voice and a singing style heavily influenced by Billie Holiday. Gray ha ...

(3:53) # "Revancha de Amor" - Gizelle d'Cole (4:06) # "Nothing Else" -

Julio Iglesias Jr. Julio José Iglesias Preysler (born 25 February 1973) is a Spanish singer. In 2008, he was declared the winner of the CMT competition '' Gone Country''. Early life He was born Julio José Iglesias-Preysler (before a later name change) in Madri ...

(4:23) # " Love Will Find You" -

Jaci Velasquez Jacquelyn "Jaci" Davette Velasquez (Spanish ''Jaci Velásquez'', born October 15, 1979) is an American actress and contemporary Christian and Latin pop singer and songwriter, performing in both English and Spanish. Velasquez has sold almost ...

(4:34) # "

" (Lawrence Dermer Remix); mislabeled as "Pablo Flores Remix" - Gloria Estefan and *NSYNC (4:23) # "Concerto in D Minor for Two Violins" -

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

, played by

and

(3:56)

Certifications

References

External links

*
Movie stills

Opus 118 Harlem School of Music
{{DEFAULTSORT:Music Of The Heart 1999 films 1990s English-language films 1990s crime drama films American crime drama films American musical drama films Films about violins and violinists Films about classical music and musicians Films set in New York City Musical films based on actual events Biographical films about educators Cultural depictions of American women Cultural depictions of classical musicians Films shot in New York City Films shot in New Jersey Films directed by Wes Craven Films set in schools Films scored by Mason Daring 1999 drama films 1990s American films