THE ROY HART VOICE CENTRE
AND THE MALÉRARGUES ECOSYSTEM
Upon the arrival of the Roy Hart Theatre company from London in 1974, Malérargues became a place of residence and a sheltered work environment for vocal exploration in pursuit of a deeper understanding of life and art, a unique venue for exchange, teaching, training and creation.
The ownership of the Château de Malérargues and the surrounding terraces and woodlands is currently organized under the structure of a real estate holding company, the Société Civile Immobilière Fondation Malérargues, with thirty-three shareholders, as it was when first acquired by the Roy Hart Theatre half a century ago.
The Roy Hart Theatre Association — later to become the Roy Hart International Artistic Centre and in 2024 the Roy Hart Voice Centre — now operates as a non-profit educational, cultural, and artistic association. It leases studios and student accommodation from the SCI and runs the cultural and artistic activities — including workshops and training programmes, artistic residencies, and performances — that take place in Malérargues, to ensure the continuing vitality of the work on the human voice originated by Alfred Wolfsohn and continued by Roy Hart, Roy Hart Theatre, and subsequent generations of teachers.
The Malérargues Endowment Fund was established in 2021 as a philanthropic entity, devoted to ensuring the perpetuity and prosperity both of the property and of the voice work and the cultural and artistic legacy of Alfred Wolfsohn, Roy Hart, and the Roy Hart Theatre. To guarantee this continuity, it aims to legally assume ownership of the estate from the surviving shareholders in order to preserve it as a protected site unencumbered by private patrimonial interests and ensure the longevity and prosperity of the Roy Hart Voice Centre.
The partnership between the Malérargues Endowment Fund and the Roy Hart Voice Centre —and other associations linked with the Wolfsohn-Hart work in Malérargues — is a symbiotic one, whereby the Malérargues Endowment Fund channels funds to support their activities and projects.