When the American Expeditionary Forces entered the First World War, the commander of its army, General Pershing, decided the quality of US military band music needed improvement.
Walter Damrosch, then conductor of the New York Philharmonic, was asked to organize a school in Chaumont, where US troops were headquartered, led by composer and teacher Francis Casadesus [fr].
With the full support of French authorities, as well as that of composer and organist Charles-Marie Widor, who became its first director, the American Conservatory, was granted permission to open in the Louis XV wing of the Chateau of Fontainebleau.
Since 1921, the teaching staff has included renowned faculty such as: the trio Pasquier, Maurice Ravel, Camille Saint-Saëns, Marcel Dupré, Robert and Gaby Casadesus, Charles-Marie Widor, Henri Dutilleux, Gilbert Amy, Betsy Jolas, André Boucourechliev, Pierre Amoyal, Sviatoslav Richter, Mstislav Rostropovitch, Igor Stravinsky, Arthur Rubinstein, Tristan Murail and Leonard Bernstein.
Past directors of the school are Jacques Carlu, A. Remondet, P. Devinoy, Bernard de la Tour d'Auvergne, Marion Tournon-Branly, and J.L.