AMERICAN CONSERVATORY: FONTAINEBLEAU, FRANCE
PHILIPPE ENTREMONT -- DIRECTOR

Centered in the Palais de Fontainebleau, less than an hour southeast of Paris, the American Conservatory was founded in 1921 to introduce the best American music students to the French musical tradition of teaching, composing and performing. It has included on its faculty the most prestigious names: Maurice Ravel, Marcel Dupré, Robert, Gaby and Jean Casadesus, Jean Francaix, Henri Dutilleux, Betsy Jolas, Leonard Bernstein, to name but a few. From the first, Nadia Boulanger devoted her talent, energy, knowledge, and influence to the American Conservatory of which she was Director from 1949 to 1979.

The American Conservatory has played a major role in the training of many famous American musicians such as Aaron Copland, Virgil Thomson, Louise Talma, Samuel Dushkin, Eliott Carter, Beveridge Webster, Kenton Coe and more. Under its present director, Philippe Entremont, the American Conservatory continues to fulfill its mission, enlarging it to include European and Asian students.