Renaissance of the Villa Viardot: the municipality of Bougival entrusts this jewel of European cultural and artistic heritage to the CEM.

We are particularly pleased to announce that on 2 October 2025 the Bougival Municipal Council unanimously voted to grant a Temporary Occupancy Permit (AOT) for the Villa Viardot to the Centre Européen de Musique (CEM) for the next five years, with the possibility of three three-year extensions.

This political, cultural and symbolic gesture crowns a battle fought since 2000 by Jorge Chaminé, founding president of the CEM, to save a musical, artistic and European heritage that seemed doomed to oblivion and ruin.

We would like to thank all our partners for their support and the Bougival Municipal Council for its unanimous vote, which encourages us more than ever to continue our mission!

From now on, the Villa Viardot will not only be a restored monument: it will once again become a living place, a European crossroads, a house open to artists, researchers, citizens and children, an island of Europe in Île-de-France, alive, open and looking to the future.

In its heyday, the voices of Pauline Viardot, Ivan Turgenev, Louis Viardot, Gounod, Saint-Saëns, Fauré, the Dumas, Maupassant and so many others resounded here, and it will continue to carry the voice of a Europe of culture, fraternity and transmission.

The preview of our programming is about to begin, and we invite you to follow us, join us, and support us in this new chapter that is unfolding.