The Conservatoire Américain: A History, By Kendra Preston Leonard. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 2007. ISBN-10: 0810857324; ISBN-13: 978- 0810857322. Pbk., xxix, 263 pp. $55.00.

Kendra Preston Leonard's The Conservatoire Américain: A History immediately reminds us that there was a time in the not-too-distant past when it was necessary for Americans wishing to acquire a professional musical education to pursue a period of study with European masters, and according to European cultural models. During World War I, however, when study in Europe was not an option, the lack of adequate facilities for such training in the united States became even more acutely felt. This void inspired the development, in the aftermath of war, of an institution created with the support of the French nation to provide Americans with the training that was unavailable to them in their home country, a gesture that sprang as much from a wish to promote French culture (by exporting France's cultural resources) as from a wish on the part of the French people to express its gratitude for American aid received during the war. Leonard's book chronicles the creation and evolution of this institution, the Conservatoire Américain, established in 1921 at the historic royal palace at Fontainebleau, which was to have a significant impact on the lives and careers of generations of American musicians, on the evolution of American music, and ultimately on international musical culture itself.