I recently returned from a two-week stay in France for an in-person session with CNIMA (Centre National et International pour la Musique et l’Accordéon). It was a very interesting experience, and I am happy to be able to write about it in our very own school publication.
After taking Skype lessons with the school for about 10 months (since a workshop they hosted here in New Orleans last summer), the teachers there decided I should take in person lessons at their school in Saint-Sauves D’Auvergne. The school is exclusively oriented towards music and it is therefore unreasonable to compare their structure with Newman’s, but theirs is interesting just the same.
There were many more students around during the first week (one of their six-or-so annual accordion group-workshops), mostly coming from southern France, but some from Switzerland and northern Italy. The schedule, especially during the quieter second week, was very accommodating with usually only two group lessons and two private lessons a day. This added up to about three hours of actual instruction in one day, although rigorous practice in the assigned rooms was encouraged. The practice ‘boxes’ (essentially closets) opened onto a small common space with a coffee machine and chessboard, the former being much frequented myself, although the €.80 charge somewhat hindered my hot-chocolate binge.
Lunch was around 1:30 every day and consisted of two entrees, cheese, oranges, and lots of yoghurt. The brie was very good, but I skipped the Pecorino. Wine was also available in pitchers for the adult students, making this certainly the most french institutional lunch I had ever seen. Small concerts at the end of each week were held for the families of the visiting students, which was rather stressful considering how little time I had to work on my piece (only the first week + two prior Skype lessons) but it went alright and the atmosphere was very nice. Most of the students would walk to the bakerie town during the two unstructured hours after lunch, but my practice schedule had other plans.
The surrounding area was very quiet with only two air-b-n-bs in the Saint-Sauves, so my family settled for a very nice rental apartment in the adjacent (and much larger) town of La Bourboule. La Bourboule has a similar atmosphere to Saint-Sauves, but also a much livelier scene along the river with a long row of shops, bistros, and small hotels. Further up the river and just past the end of the ‘downtown’ area —if you can call it that —is a railroad station originally built by the Chemin du fer de Paris et Orleans. While abandoned by the SNCF and the later wave of restaurant and boutique tenants sometime in the last thirty years, the elegant beaux-arts structure is in good condition with an adjacent freighthouse still in use by a private owner. A single through-track of the station’s original two platforms and freight yard seems to be in use. While evidently unused for a few months, the line is in good repair.
The lack of academic instruction at CNIMA makes the school unattractive as a long term option for a high-school student, but the instructional experience there was very enjoyable and effective and I plan to visit again sometime for a similar duration. There aren’t very many local attractions to see other than the historic architecture and eating establishments, but Saint-Sauves is only 45 minutes away from the ski-town of SuperBesse, with other ski/snowboard attractions likely nearby. The unique method taught by the instructors at CNIMA makes for a very salutary experience for one’s musical technique, and the charm of the area makes it a great place for a quiet vacation.
