The last two courses were simply amazing ... the teachers, the atmosphere, the people, the place and of course the music make it something special. Seriously, thanks a lot for gifting me with an opportunity to live something like that. 
Thank you so much for a fabulous, inspiring and utterly delicious week! I really feel that I have come away ready to perform in front of an audience, which is what I set out to do.
Castelfranc was just a WONDERFUL experience for me and for my music.
The time at Castelfranc was magical. I have returned to the piano with so many new ideas and new skills. Most important to me, though, is the renewal of the passion for the piano I seemed to have lost many years ago when other responsibilities and activities took over my life. The course helped me to reconnect.
MUSIC AT AMBIALET is the third incarnation of the renowned piano summer school Music at Castelfranc (formerly Music at Ladevie), founded in 1991 by the pianist Paul Roberts and arts journalist Jenny Gilbert. Over the years they have maintained and developed their original vision: to nurture the highest standards of music-making in tranquil and idyllic surroundings, removed from the competitive urban pressures of school and conservatoire; to offer classes to amateur pianists as well as conservatoire students, so giving amateurs a level of teaching and performing they would not normally find.
It is the combination of amateur and aspiring professional, and the wide mix of ages, that bring to the summer school its unique musical and social ambience. Amateurs have the opportunity to hear in masterclass and concert fine young pianists intent on pursuing a career in music, while the students get to make contacts and friendships with their future public.
Binding the whole enterprise is a commitment to hospitality. The food, wine and service, as well as the music making, are memorable.
The magnificent Priory at Ambialet in the Tarn Valley is the summer school's new home. Over the years it has maintained and developed the original vision of its founders: to nurture the highest standards of music-making in idyllic surroundings...
Music at Ambialet offers accommodation in the newly restored, 11th-century Benedictine priory in the village of Ambialet, in the Vallée du Tarn.
"Students have returned year after year. Clearly this is one summer school that could become addictive"
- BBC Music Magazine
"The place, the people, the weather, the food, everything was memorable."
