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The Fontainebleau Schools of Music and Fine Arts 2024


  • Château de Fontainebleau Fontainebleau France (map)

Assistant Program Director and Violinist in the historic Château de Fontainebleau

The schools originally got their start with the involvement of the United States during the First World War: General Pershing wished to improve the quality of the United States military bands and so asked the conductor of the New York Philharmonic — Walter Damrosch — to organize a music school in Chaumont, France, where US troops were headquartered. The school was led by composer and teacher Francis Casadesus.

After the war, Damrosch and Casadesus decided to continue the school, and with the support of the French government, the American Conservatory (Conservatoire Américain) opened in the Louis XV wing of the Chateau of Fontainebleau in 1921. The American Conservatory — with composer and organist Charles-Marie Widor as its first director — intended to offer the best of French musical education to young, promising musicians.

Some of the world’s finest musicians studied at The American Conservatory including Aaron Copland, Quincy Jones and many, many others. Some distinguished alumni such as Louise Talma, Robert Levin & Émile Naoumoff were also faculty.

https://fontainebleauschools.org/