Normal Music School of Paris Alfred Cortot

The École Normale de Musique de Paris "Alfred Cortot" (ENMP) is a leading conservatoire located in Paris, France. At the time of the school's foundation in 1919 the term ecole normale (English: normal school) meant a teacher training institution, and the school was intended to produce music teachers as well as concert performers. Located in the 17th arrondissement of Paris, it was founded by Auguste Mangeot and pianist Alfred Cortot. It is officially recognised by the Ministry of Culture and Communication and is under the patronage of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The school was founded on 6 October 1919 as a private institution by Franco-Swiss pianist Alfred Cortot and Auguste Mangeot, director of the magazine Le Monde musical. In 1927, the school moved from a building in the rue Jouffroy-d'Abbans to 114 bis boulevard Malesherbes, a Belle Époque mansion given by the Marquise of Maleissye, where it is now situated. In 1962, after Cortot's death, composer Pierre Petit became the school's new director. Two years later, 1964, conductor Charles Munch was named school president. In 1968, Henri Dutilleux succeeded Münch's position as president and stayed in office until 1974. In 1929, the renowned architect Auguste Perret, who also responsible for the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, designed a new 500-seat concert hall for the school. Named "Salle Cortot" after the school's founder, the hall was designed in the "Art Deco" style. Cortot once described it as: "A hall which sounds like a Stradivarius". In 2001, a restoration of the Hall was carried out with the support of the French Ministry of Culture and Liliane Bettencourt. Today it hosts more than 160 concerts and musical events every year. Both the Salle Cortot and the school are registered as historical landmarks by the French Administration.