Les Kapsber'girls

Since its creation in 2015 by lutenist and artistic leader Albane Imbs, the ensemble Les Kapsber'girls has been committed to breathing new life into Baroque and pre-Baroque music by infusing it with a resolutely contemporary freedom of tone. Their name, a nod to the Italian composer Girolamo Kapsberger, immediately symbolizes their desire to reappropriate the ancient repertoire with freshness, humor and high standards.

The Kapsber'girls were formed around a deep artistic complicity between four musicians from different backgrounds, united by a shared passion for early music, rare sources and forgotten voices. The ensemble quickly became a space for research, reinvention and play. Their interpretation blends musicological rigor, stage intuition and influences from traditional and popular music.

“A brilliant and lively reading of the Baroque repertoire, both respectful and free." - Télérama

The Kapsber'girls take a cross-disciplinary approach to the repertoire. Their aim is not to reconstruct a frozen past, but to build bridges: between eras, aesthetics and disciplines. Their approach values the dynamics of orality, the colors of ancient instruments, and the emotional power of female voices.
Each program becomes a thematic and narrative exploration, where arrangement and interpretation draw as much on historical sources as on the musical inventiveness of the collective.

“The Kapsber'girls turn codes on their head with audacity and sensitivity." - Classica

Together, they form a free and complicit collective, constantly listening to each other. Their strength lies as much in their differences as in their musical unity. Each project is an opportunity to bring their sensibilities into dialogue in a deeply embodied form of interpretation.

“Strong personalities at the service of a common vision, demanding and inhabited.” - ResMusica

Since their inception, Les Kapsber'girls have been committed to bringing marginalized female composers, forgotten forms and rare repertoires back into the spotlight. In 2025, their album Vox Feminae consecrates this approach: it pays tribute to five Italian women composers of the Seicento, figures of talent, courage and singularity in a world dominated by men.

It's an artistic and political act: to give voice to the voices that history has silenced for too long.

Since their creation, Les Kapsber'girls have benefited from the support of a number of cultural organizations who have accompanied their artistic approach, based on research, creation and the lively interpretation of early music.

Hosted in research-creation residencies at prestigious venues - the Académie Bach (Arques-la-Bataille), the Cité de la Voix (Vézelay), Sinfonia en Périgord, the Centres culturels de rencontre d'Ambronay, the Ferme de Villefavard and the Abbaye aux Dames in Saintes - the ensemble has been able to refine its musical identity over the course of its projects.

Their concerts are regularly acclaimed by the specialist press (OpéraCritiques, ResMusica, Classicagenda...) and have been heard on some of Europe's most renowned stages and festivals: London Festival of Baroque Music, Brighton Festival, Les Nuits de Septembre (Belgium), Fora do Lugar (Portugal), Festival Radio France, Opéra de Lyon, Festival de Sablé, Festival de la Chaise Dieu, Les Musicales de Normandie, Heinrich Schutz Music Festival (Germany), Les Riches Heures Musicales de la Rotonde, among others.

The ensemble is supported by the DRAC Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, the Centre National de la Musique, ADAMI, SPEDIDAM and since 2024, has also benefited from the patronage of the Orange Foundation.
Les Kapsber'girls are members of FEVIS (Fédération des Ensembles Vocaux et Instrumentaux Spécialisés).

April 2025