Roberta Guaspari

Roberta Guaspari (also Roberta Guaspari-Tzavaras ; born September 15, 1947 in Rome , New York ) is an American violin teacher.

life and work

The mother of two sons, Nick and Alexi, applied for a job as a violin teacher at a school in East Harlem, New York, after their divorce in 1980.

She became known as a committed teacher through her "East Harlem Violin Program", with which she introduced the children of the poor neighborhoods to playing the violin. It started with almost 50 children in one school, which then grew to 150 children in three schools.

After more than ten successful years, their courses threatened to end after budget cuts. She founded the foundation "the Opus 118 Music Center, Inc." and fought together with students, teachers and friends for the continuation and in June 1991 organized a solidarity concert for her students.

Itzhak Perlman and other well-known musicians reacted to the related press articles and offered to cooperate. This happened in the so-called “Fiddlefest” and took place at Carnegie Hall in 1993 , and prominent guest violinists Isaac Stern , Itzhak Perlman, Arnold Steinhardt, Mark O'Connor, Michael Tree, Diane Monroe and many others support Roberta Guaspari in her struggle for violin lessons in the ghetto.

Since 1992 appearances have taken place at the White House, Carnegie Hall , Yankee Stadium , Madison Square Garden , as well as radio and television shows. From 1991 to 1998 private donations were made; meanwhile the 'Guaspari East Harlem Violin Program' receives public funding.

Her work was shown to the general public in the documentary Small Wonders and the film Music of the Heart with Meryl Streep , Aidan Quinn , Gloria Estefan and Angela Bassett by Wes Craven and was nominated for an Academy Award .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME	Guaspari, Roberta
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Guaspari-Tzavaras, Roberta
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American violin teacher
DATE OF BIRTH	September 15, 1947
PLACE OF BIRTH	Rome , New York