Guaspari biography

"With the violin, I can get into kids' hearts and souls."—Roberta Guaspari, 1992

Outside the auditorium at the Central Park East School in East Harlem, proud parents wait patiently, among stacks of violin cases, for the doors to open.

Inside, 120 violinists, nearly all under five feet tall, tune their instruments, and practice the final chords for the afternoon’s annual school concert. “Knees straight. Bellies out.

Guaspari biography

Violins up. Don’t slow down, crescendo! Let your wrists go soft. You look nice, relax your shoulders.

Faculty - Opus 118 Harlem School of Music, carousel

DON’T MOVE! Watch me with your eyes!”

Whispers and giggles fill the air as Roberta Guaspari coaches her students. “Stop plucking your violins! One more time and then it’s for real!” The commitment she demands from her students reflects the seriousness of her desire to establish a first-class violin program in the East Harlem public schools of New York City.

Roberta grew up in a working-class family in Rome, New York