Since its creation in 2015 by lutenist and artistic director Albane Imbs, the ensemble Les Kapsber’girls strives to bring Baroque and pre-Baroque music back to life by infusing it with a distinctly contemporary freedom of tone. Their name, a nod to the Italian composer Girolamo Kapsberger, instantly symbolizes their desire to reclaim early repertoire with freshness, humor, and high standards.
Les Kapsber’girls were formed around a deep artistic connection between four musicians from diverse backgrounds, brought together 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 drawn from traditional and popular music.
"A brilliant and lively reading of the Baroque repertoire, both respectful and liberated."
Télérama
A unique artistic signature
Les Kapsber’girls embrace a cross-disciplinary perspective on the repertoire. They do not seek to recreate a frozen past, but rather to build bridges — between eras, aesthetics, and disciplines. Their approach highlights the dynamics of orality, the colors of period 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 ensemble’s musical inventiveness.
ChatGPT a dit : "Les Kapsber’girls shake up the codes with boldness and sensitivity." — Classica
The musicians: four identities, one alchemy
- Alice Duport-Percier – Soprano
Trained at the CNSMD of Lyon, Alice is a singer with a clear and expressive voice, equally at ease in virtuosic ornamentations and in the simple, poignant lines of Italian Baroque. She brings to the ensemble a strong lyrical and dramatic dimension, with great stylistic precision. Read the bio - Axelle Verner – Mezzo-soprano
Warm voice, sense of phrasing, and stage presence: Axelle embodies the narrative soul of the Kaps. She explores early music with an open mind and a true affinity for texts, languages, and the inflections of Baroque singing. Read the bio - Garance Boizot – Viola da gamba
Garance stands out for her rich and nuanced sonic palette. Her approach to the viol combines instrumental virtuosity with a keen sense of collective breathing. She provides the ensemble with a delicately crafted harmonic backbone Read the bio - Albane Imbs – Plucked strings & artistic direction
Founder of the project, Albane is the founding soul of Les Kapsber’girls. Through her refined playing on the theorbo, Baroque guitar, and lute, she builds a precise and inventive rhythmic foundation. Her approach to musical direction emphasizes the intelligence of the text, the ensemble’s breath, and a certain freedom in interpretation. Read the bio
Together, they form a free-spirited and close-knit collective, constantly attuned to one another. Their strength lies as much in their differences as in their musical unity. Each project is an opportunity to bring their sensibilities into dialogue through a deeply embodied form of interpretation.
"Strong personalities in the service of a shared vision, both exacting and full of soul." — ResMusica
Restoring the voices of the forgotten
Since their beginnings, Les Kapsber’girls have been committed to shedding light on marginalized women composers, forgotten forms, and rare repertoires. In 2025, their album Vox Feminae embodies this approach: it pays tribute to five Italian women composers of the Seicento, figures of talent, courage, and individuality in a male-dominated world.
An artistic and political act: to let the voices resonate that History has silenced for far too long.
A recognized and supported career
Since their creation, Les Kapsber’girls have enjoyed the support of numerous cultural institutions that accompany their artistic approach, rooted in research, creation, and the living interpretation of early music.
Hosted in research-creation residencies in prestigious locations – the Bach Academy (Arques-la-Bataille), the Cité de la Voix (Vézelay), Sinfonia en Périgord, cultural meeting centers of Ambronay, the Ferme de Villefavard 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 praised by the specialist press (OpéraCritiques, ResMusica, Classicagenda, etc.) and have been heard on the most renowned European 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, Centre National de la Musique, ADAMI and since 2024, also benefits from the patronage of the Orange Foundation.
The Kapsber’girls are members of FEVIS (Federation of Specialized Vocal and Instrumental Ensembles).
