Roberta Guaspari
Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Performance
Opus 118
About Roberta Guaspari
Roberta Guaspari, Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Performance began her remarkable teaching career in three East Harlem public schools in 1980. Through her work, she has become an international figure in the fight for public school music education. In 1990, when funding for her teaching was eliminated, she joined with parents, teachers and other volunteers to continue the program. They created a non-profit organization, now called Opus 118 Harlem School of Music, which has expanded to support a community music school serving thousands of low-income children over the years, both in and after school. In 1996, the documentary film Small Wonders featuring Roberta and her students, was nominated for an Academy Award, and her story was the inspiration for the feature film Music of the Heart, in which she was portrayed by Meryl Streep. Roberta is co-author of an autobiographical book of the same title. Roberta, who learned to play violin in public school, holds a B.A. in Music from SUNY Fredonia, and a M.A. in Music from Boston University. Among the many awards and honors she has received are honorary doctorates from the New England Conservatory of Music, SUNY Fredonia, and Mount Holyoke College, a cultural leadership citation from Yale University, the Barnard College Medal of Distinction, the American String Teachers Marvin J. Rabin Award, the Arison Award from the National Foundation for Advancement of the Arts, CBS This Morning’s “Woman of the Year,” and the Reader’s Digest Foundation’s “Hero for Today” award. She continues to travel internationally to advocate for the vital role of music in every child’s education. Roberta believes that violin instruction changes her students’ lives, and that music education remains the most noble of professions. A longtime resident of the East Harlem community where she teaches, Roberta has three children: Sophia, who is a student; Alexi, a pediatrician; and Nicholas, who is the cellist of the Shanghai Quartet.
Events with Roberta Guaspari
Thursday Film Screening: Music of the Heart
Music of the Heart, starring Meryl Streep, is director Wes Craven’s 1999 film that tells the true story of Roberta Guaspari’s efforts that changed the lives of generations of Harlem...
Policy, Action and Activism
Over the past three decades, People for Education has grown from a small, grassroots initiative into one of Canada’s most respected and influential voices in public education policy. In this...