Paul Roberts
Artistic Director
'Paul Roberts’ excellence as a writer on music is matched by his superb talents as a pianist. I know of no other figure in the musical world who combines so impressively the roles of scholar and performer.' Richard Goode
Paul Roberts' Reading Franz Liszt: Revealing the Poetry Behind the Music, was published last year to wide critical acclaim. For Bryce Morrison in International Piano it is dazzling and richly informed, a book as deeply human as it is far reaching.'
'Perceptive and nobly written.' Alfred Brendel
Chapter 2, 'The Pianist as Actor' took its inspiration from many years of collaboration with actors at Chateau d'Aix, and which has now culminated in the new project for summer 2024, Theatre at Chateau d'Aix
Martin Sturfalt
Course 2
Swedish pianist Martin Sturfält enjoys an international career as a concerto soloist, recitalist, chamber musician and recording artist. He performs a large repertoire ranging from the baroque through to the present day, but increasingly it is his passion for the music of his native country that is earning him recognition internationally as well as in Sweden.
Martin has joined Paul Roberts' summer school over many years and is a veteran of many of the previous venues where the courses have been held in Southwest France. Martin was a student participant in the 1990s.
We welcome him back again and look forward to his infectious enthusiasm, his deep knowledge of music and his electifying artistry.
Charles Owen
Course 1
'Accomplished with thorough and refined pianistic skill and a wholehearted identification with Liszt’s message, Owen’s music-making is powerfully compelling.' Gramophone - on Owen's new Liszt release
Charles Owen enjoys an extensive international career performing a wide-ranging repertoire to outstanding critical acclaim. He appears at many major UK venues such as Wigmore Hall, Bridgewater Hall, The Sage & Kings Place. Internationally, he has performed at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall in New York, the Brahms Saal in Vienna’s Musikverein, Paris Musée d’Orsay, Amsterdam Concertgebouw and the Moscow Conservatoire. He has an extensive recording list, ranging from Bach (complete Partitas) to Brahms, Janacek and Poulenc, and most recently a highly acclaimed Liszt recording of Années de pèlerinage-Suisse and Bénédiction.
Charles has been a hugely valued presence at Paul Roberts' summer school for many years. 2022 was his 10th year on the courses.
Maria Razumovskaya
Course 3
'Lyricism, security, dramatic tension. Mastery with every phrase and sentence in place.' American Record Review (USA) - on Maria's debut Liszt album
Maria Razumovskaya has been described as a ‘virtuoso story-teller of the piano’ (Le Courrier). She performs at many major international festivals and venues including the Cheltenham Festival, Wigmore Hall and St John’s Smith Square, Zurich Stadt Kultur, Paris Musée d’Orsay, the Saint Petersburg Philharmonia, and the Rachmaninov Hall and Skryabin Museum in Moscow.
We are delighted to welcome Maria to Music at Chateau d'Aix for the third time.
Diane Baxter
Course 3
Diane Baxter, pianist, educator and consultant, is the editor of Oregon Musician. She recently retired as Professor of Music at Western Oregon University where she received the Faculty Honors Award for Outstanding Creativity and the Pastega Award for Excellence in Teaching. Diane taught studio piano and courses in Ethnomusicology, Performance Anxiety, and Research Methods. Diane consults, performs and adjudicates far and wide, often giving workshops on performance excellence. “The Science of Artistry: The Fourth String” was published in Clavier Companion in Nov/Dec 2013. Diane’s article, “Ethnomusicology and Alchemy” was published in the April/May 2020 edition of American Music Teacher. Diane began Piano at Tigh na Breac in 2018, an international annual workshop on the shores of Loch Etive in the Scottish Highlands. The focus is on performance success and doing our best when it matters most. She lives, writes, plays and thinks in Brownsville, Oregon.
Diane has been a regular participant at the summer school in France since 2012, both as a performer in the master classes and recently as a compassionate and wise teacher and counsellor of the intermediate class.
James Kreiling
Course 2
'Remarkably assured, beautifully shaped playing by Kreiling of Scriabin’s knotty, post-Romantic soundworld. Many highlights in this two-CD set, but the ‘Insect’ Tenth Sonata captivates.'
BBC Music Magazine
James and his wife Janneke Brits have been teaching and performing at the summer school for over a decade. Their piano duo partnership is electrifying, their patient and wise teaching inspiring and memorable.
Janneke Brits
Course 1
Graduate of the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York
As chamber pianist Janneke has taken part in concert series and festivals in the US and throughout Europe, highlights being the International Master Classes at Prussia Cove, the Lagrasse Piano Festival in France, the Blair Atholl Showcase in Scotland. She has premiered for BBC Radio 3 works by Hans Werner Henze, Tristan Murail, and Peter Eotvos, broadcast from the Barbican Hall, London, and LSO St Luke's.
Janneke's contribution to Music at Chateau d'Aix over the years has been inestimable, above all in the field of baroque keyboard music, to which she brings her superb understanding of harpsichord style and technique into a creatively free alignment with the modern piano.
André Golbert
Course 3
'Impeccable pianism... stunning musical poetry.' Bravo! Magazine
Brazilian pianist André Golbert has an active career throughout the United States, Europe and South America. Recent engagements include a recital at the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts in Chicago, two appearances at the Northern Neck Orchestra’s Chamber Music Series in Virginia, a lecture-recital in Hilton Head Island, and the performance of an all-Debussy program in Paris.
A passionate and empathetic pedagogue, André currently lives in New York, where he teaches privately and belongs to the faculty of the Bronx Conservatory of Music, Opus One Music School, and Anima Music Academy. He is especially interested in early 20th-century French music and in the music of his native country. Additionally, he is a curious scholar interested in a broad range of subjects. His liner notes for the albums Beyond the Sound (2019) and Conversa (2021), both released by Alkbany Records, have garnered outstanding reviews.
André gave a deeply perceptive recital of Debussy at Chateau d'Aix in 2019 and subsequently studied with Paul Roberts before taking off for Mannes School of Music in New York. We are honoured to welcome him on to the faculty of the summer school. Welcome back André.