The Châteauville Foundation was established at Castleton Farms in 1997 by Lorin and Dietlinde Turban Maazel. The Foundation’s mission is to nurture young artists, foster collaborative artistic enterprise and create opportunities within the community for shared cultural experience. The private, state-of-the-art Theatre House is the focal point of the Foundation’s activities, including The Castleton Festival, the Castleton Residency and the Castleton Artists Training Seminar (C.A.T.S).

The Castleton Festival is an annual summer performance festival on the grounds of Castleton Farms, held each year from the end of June though the end of July.  The Castleton Festival stage has welcomed artists such as Mstislav Rostropovich, José Carreras, Emanuel Ax, and Itzhak Perlman, alongside rising stars, and figures from the worlds of classical music, dance and theatre.

In recent years, the Foundation’s work has focused most prominently on the growth of young artists, advanced students and emerging professionals on the cusp of major careers. The Castleton Residency, a program launched in 2006, invites artists to Castleton Farms to live and work together intensively under the inspiring guidance of Maestro Maazel, producing a series of chamber opera productions in the intimate Theatre House.

In addition, under the guidance of Ms. Nancy Gustafson, the Castleton Artists Training Seminar (C.A.T.S) has developed programming that attracts scores of young singers, many destined for major operatic careers. Singers are offered a range of classes and coaching encompassing opera and song literature, vocal technique and interpretation, acting for the stage, languages and opera workshops.

This year the Châteauville Foundation launches a new endowment for the C.A.T.S program, for which the sale of the ‘Maazel’ Guadagnini of 1783 will inaugurate. Ms. Nancy Gustafson, General Manager of the Castleton Festival and Co-coordinator of C.A.T.S said, “The work we do with young artists is such important and fulfilling work and we’ve only just begun.  I hope that the generosity of Maestro Maazel is infectious and inspires others to contribute, if only a fraction of the commitment the Maestro has made himself.”