“The choice of Villecroze resulted from unexpected encounter: a building in ruins and Romanesque chapel that delighted me.”
Strongly committed to the Region’s cultural life and heritage, Anne Gruner Schlumberger discovered Saint-Victor Chapel in Villecroze in 1976 at a concert given by an amateur choir. She was immediately charmed by this discreet deconsecrated Romanesque chapel surrounded by olive trees at the entrance to the village.
A year later, she obtained planning permission from the municipality to renovate the chapel. On completion of the works in 1981, a flute class was first organised and Anne Gruner Schlumberger set out to find a place to rent in the village to accommodate students at lunchtime and to provide classrooms. It was suggested she look at La Magnanerie, a former silkworm farm located at the foot of the village, which she bought along with a sheepfold in ruins located across from it, and began work on their development.
She asked painter Yves Nioré to supervise the works, acquired new land, an old hotel in the village, and hired the architect Yannis Tsiomis to complete her project. In an effort to preserve harmony with the village buildings, she called on the landscape architect Henri Fisch to structure La Magnanerie’s surroundings. In particular, he designed “le pré des pauvres” (paupers’ field), where sheep used to graze and the tiers of an outdoor theatre. The grounds are ideal for fig trees, parasol pine, cypress, mulberry, oleander, etc. Nature is everywhere at the Academy to offer musicians inspiration and serenity.
When the works were completed in 1989, the Music Academy of Villecroze was officially inaugurated.
Inauguration of the Académie musicale de Villecroze in October 1989