Philippe Bianconi
French pianist Philippe Bianconi (53) has been named Director of the American Conservatory in Fontainebleau. He is the successor of pianist Philippe Entremont who hold the position from 1994. Bianconi is well known in the United States, where he won two major competitions (Robert Casadesus in Cleveland in 1981 and Van Cliburn in Fort Worth in 1985).
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 new director, Philippe Bianconi, the American Conservatory continues to fulfill its mission, enlarging it to include European and Asian students.
