CNN - Music teacher's commitment ends on upbeat note

Music teacher's commitment ends on upbeat note

She's topic of Oscar-nominated film

March 25, 1996
Web posted at: 4:30 p.m. EST

From Correspondent Janine Sharell

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Roberta Guaspari-Tzavaras interrupts as a group of musicians practice the violin.

"Jonathan, you're flat," she belts out.

Pointing to another violinist, Guaspari-Tzavaras says, "Becky, I don't feel you're with us."

It's like a rehearsal for the Boston Pops. But, it's really music practice for students at a public elementary school. (108K AIFF sound or 108K WAV sound)

Guaspari-Tzavaras teaches violin at elementary schools in New York's East Harlem. And Monday night, she will attend the Oscars.

Guaspari-Tzavaras is the subject of the Oscar-nominated documentary, "Fiddlefest." It's nominated alongside films about baseball great Hank Aaron and holocaust victim Anne Frank.

"She's a great teacher," executive producer Walter Scheuer says. "And if you spend 10 to 15 minutes with her, you'll realize that she's an extraordinary one."

Guaspari-Tzavaras rejects such praise.

"It's a little embarrassing at times," she says. "It's so outrageous that I'm going."

The film traces what happened when Guaspari-Tzavaras lost her job because of budget cuts, even though she had taught music in public schools for 10 years

Determined to keep her music program alive, Guaspari-Tzavaras set out to raise the money herself. Her efforts were rewarded as the media picked up on her story. She even caught the ears of world-class musicians.

"Itzhak Perlman called my home and it was the neatest thing," Guaspari-Tzavaras says. "He said, 'I saw your kids playing on TV. They sounded great. What can I do to help?'"

To raise money, musicians such as Perlman and Isaac Stern performed a benefit concert in Carnegie Hall with Guaspari- Tzavaras' students in 1993.

Guaspari-Tzavaras and the film's producers hope the Oscar nomination will galvanize public attention around the issue of arts funding in public schools.

For students like Jose Miguel Rojas, who plays a prominent role in the film, the threat of losing their music program is a constant reality.

"I feel like -- so scared," he says.

As for Guaspari-Tzavaras, she tolerates the publicity but keeps her easy-going ways because it benefits her students. She's even declined offers from designers to dress her for the Oscars.

"I have to maintain my image," a smiling Guaspari-Tzavaras says.

Music teacher's commitment ends on upbeat note

She's topic of Oscar-nominated film

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