At age 21, he became stage manager and dramaturg at the Opéra National du Rhin, where he met Spiros Argiris, who was then the music director of the Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto.
[1] Villaume made his American conducting debut in 1990 with Le nozze di Figaro at the Spoleto Festival USA.
He was named music director for opera and orchestra of the Spoleto Festival USA in October 2000,[1] and held the post from 2001 to 2010.
In January 2007 he made his conducting debut at La Fenice in Venice with Meyerbeer's Il crociato in Egitto.
[7] In October 2014, the Prague Philharmonia announced the appointment of Villaume as its fourth chief conductor, effective with the 2015-2016 season, with an initial contract of 3 years.