About the Académie

About the Académie

After setting up the Fondation des Treilles, Anne Gruner Schlumberger felt that a framework of patronage in the field of music was needed.

Having discovered the village of Villecroze, she acquired the use of an eleventh-century chapel, and with the permission of the Mairie embarked on its restoration. Here the first master classes for young musicians took place, taught by musicians of international renown. She then bought a disused magnanerie (a building used for breeding silkworms) to provide accommodation and rehearsal facilities.

As these activities grew, so they expanded into an entire quartier of the village, and a number of houses were restored to create an architectural ensemble designed specifically for musicians.

Anne Gruner Schlumberger died in 1993, to be succeeded by her granddaughter, Anne Postel-Vinay. Faithful to the aims of the Académie's founder, Anne Postel-Vinay has increased the number of master classes held each year, and widened the range of activities and events to include musicological conferences, seminars, the Prix de l'Académie musicale de Villecroze, recordings and composition workshops.