Music of the Heart

This is an excellent motivational movie to watch for anyone who wants to be a music educator. It follows the life of Roberta Guaspari, a single mother of two boys who has a passion for the violin and needs a job. She walks into the principle's office of an inner city school in East Harlem looking for a job and, although she lacks prior experience, the principal hires Guaspari based on her firm belief that any child can learn to play the violin. Guaspari starts out with 50 students who have no appreciation for the violin and using her strict teaching style and love of her students, her number of students triples in 10 years. But when funding for the arts gets cut in her district, Guisparri finds herself fighting for the program that changed the lives of every student in her classroom over those 10 years. The ending of the movie is truly inspirational: it features Guispari and her students performing with the greatest violin names alive today in a benefit concert held in Carnegie Hall.

There are two main reasons I love this movie. One is becuase even though her students are mostly underpriviledged and have difficult home lives, Guaspari treats them just like every other child and, in some ways, expects even more from them. She never lets them get away with not practicing and consistently demands excellence. Because of these expectations her students grow to have a deep appreciation for the violin and music in general, a stellar work ethic, and a love for Guaspari. Many of her students grow up to become things like doctors and lawyers and are able to succeed. I think this movie is a great example of how a great teacher truly can influence and change the path of a child's life. Along these same lines, I get frustrated when people say that children in inner city schools aren't able to succeed because of where they live or their upbringing. I think that is totally false and this movie is the perfect example of what a great teacher can do for inner city kids when he or she doesn't see them as "inner city kids" but just a group of students that he or she expects a lot out of. The second reason I love this movie is becuase it demonstrates firsthand how not just a great teacher, but how music can change someone's life and how much a child's life can be compromised when funding for the arts is cut. (Can you tell I'm passionate about this topic? It just keeps coming back!) The ending where the kids and professional violinists (who are NOT played by actors by the way, they are the real deal!) come together to make beautiful music in order to support the continuance of Guaspari's program is one of the most powerful moments. This movie is a must see for future and current music educators.