<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><p style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; ">The Harlem music teacher whose real life story inspired the Academy Award-nominated film <em><strong>Music of the Heart</strong></em> starring Meryl Streep, will pay a special visit to Detroit to share her expertise and passion with local music students and their teachers.</p><p style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; ">An internationally renowned music pedagogue, Roberta Guaspari was also the subject of the Oscar-nominated documentary <em><strong>Small Wonders</strong></em>. Guaspari and her son, cellist Nick Tzavaras of the Shanghai String Quartet, will lead two days of string workshops and hands-on clinics at the Cornerstone Schools on Friday, April 8 from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday, April 9 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. An Informance, a finale concert featuring all participants, will take place on Saturday, April 9 at 5 p.m.</p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; ">Guaspari will work with string students from Cornerstone during her visit, as well as from schools and universities across metro Detroit, while also focusing on urban strategies and approaches for Detroit's music educators on the front line. In particular, she hopes to reinforce music programs at the elementary school level, whose success lays the all-important groundwork for middle and high school programs. With music education in schools becoming increasingly rare, Guaspari hopes to support and draw attention to Detroit's successful programs that are making a difference in children's lives.</span><p style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; ">Guaspari's visit is sponsored, in part, by the Michigan State University College of Music through funds provided by Jack and Dottie Withrow. The event celebrates a collaboration between the MSU College of Music and Cornerstone which began in 2008. Annual masterclasses and workshops presented at Cornerstone by MSU faculty and music education students in training have helped strengthen mutual skills in the areas of piano, strings, early childhood music education and voice.</p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; ">Armed with music degrees from universities in New York and Boston, violinist Roberta Guaspari began teaching music in East Harlem in the 1970's. With a combination of toughness and determination,</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; "> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; "><br></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; ">she inspired students, and their initially skeptical parents. Over the next several decades, her program developed and galvanized a community. When funding was cut in 1991, parents, city leaders and philanthropists rallied to save it. The result was the first Fiddlefest fundraiser at Carnegie Hall, which attracted the attention of world-class musicians including Itzhak Perlman, Isaac Stern, Midori, Quincy Jones and Mark O’Connor, among many others. Funding for Guaspari's program was restored and new attention was brought to the importance of music education. </span><p style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; ">Today, Guaspari continues her work by leading the program Opus 118 at the Harlem School of Music and serves as an advocate and ambassador for the preservation of music in schools. In the past year, she has been featured on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams: Making a Difference, the <strong><em>New York Post</em></strong> and <em><strong>Vogue</strong></em>magazine, to name a few. Opus 118 students play for local hospitals and special events while the faculty brings music education to after-school programs and early childhood music education to Head Start Programs.</p><p style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; ">Ernestine Sanders, President/CEO of Cornerstone schools said, "Cornerstone Schools is honored to host Roberta Guaspari's Masterclass event. The students at Cornerstone Schools and other Detroit area schools who are participating in the two-day workshop are truly fortunate to have the opportunity to meet and learn from such a talented, passionate and inspirational woman."</p><p style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; ">String educators, students, parents and the general public are invited to observe the Robert Guaspari Masterclass event. Attendance is free but seating is limited. To RSVP contact Kathy Ferris at (313) 892-1860 ext 210 or (248) 559-9342 or by email <a href="mailto:kkferris69@att.net" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; font-size: 12px; ">kkferris69@att.net</a>. </p></body></html>