After considerable experience with great Baroque formations, these young French-trained musicians who have today won major prizes both in France and internationally, decided to form Les Folies Françoises in 2000. The ensemble is conducted by violinist Patrick Cohën-Akenine. Half-way between a chamber ensemble and an orchestra, this ensemble of recognised soloists revisits the vast instrumental and vocal repertoire of the 17th and 18th centuries. The ensemble performs these works in the same spirit of freedom, plurality and creativity as that which motivated the musicians of the Grand Siècle. In the same way as François Couperin's Treizième Ordre, from which the ensemble takes its name, Les Folies Françoises aim to express the full palette of colours and feelings which characterise the musical tastes of the period.

The ensemble stands out due to the personal commitment of a core group of permanent musicians. They are opened to work rigorously within the context of a broader dialogue. Their most recent performances in France and abroad have shown they have a new rapport with the public. These soloists, at the avant-garde of the new generation of baroque, are now working to develop their own unmistakeable sound to perform with today's great conductors and guest soloists, and to attract programmers interested in an ensemble undertaking serious research into the interpretation of the baroque and classical repertoire.

The ensemble – which is renowned for its sense of variety and innovation – has been invited at numerous concert venues, including: the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, the Cité de la Musique, the Théâtre de la Ville in Paris, the Arsenal de Metz, the Chapelle Royale and the Royal Opera of Versailles, the Lausanne and Nantes Operas, the Théâtre du Jeu de Paume (Aix-en-Provence), the Théâtre de Nîmes and the Carré Saint-Vincent (Scène Nationale d’Orléans). It has also performed several times for the Folle Journée (Nantes), the Beaune, Ambronay, La Chaise-Dieu, Auvers-sur-Oise, Sablé, Saint-Michel-en-Thiérache and Pontoise Festivals, or for the Yehudi Menuhin Foundation. The ensemble has also been heard on Radio Classique, France Musique, the BBC, the RTBF and on the television channel Mezzo. They regularly tour abroad (Belgium, Netherlands, UK, Germany, Italy, Lebanon, Mexico, USA, Colombia…).

Since 2005, the orchestra of Les Folies Françoises explores the classical repertoire, performed at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées and the Cité de la Musique, but also for the Utrecht Early Music Festival, the Montpellier and Avignon Operas…

Les Folies Françoises has recorded French baroque arias with soprano P. Petibon for EMI/Virgin Classics – the disc was award-winning, both in France and abroad – and arias with countertenor R. Expert for UNIVERSAL/Decca. In 2004, a CD dedicated to Bernier’s Nuits de Sceaux and recorded for Alpha Productions is released (ffff award by “Télérama”), followed by a Leclair CD (5 Diapasons) in 2005 and a Mozart one in 2006 (**** in “Le Monde de la Musique”). Les Folies Françoises has also recorded Boccherini’s Stabat Mater (Ricercar, 2005) and a DVD devoted to Charpentier’s Plaisirs de Versailles (Vox Lucida, 2005). In 2007, the ensemble will record a program of Bach’s sacred cantatas for Cyprès.

Les Folies Françoises is supported by the Direction Régionale des Affaires Culturelles d'Ile-de-France – French Ministry for Culture and Communication, by the Région Centre, the city of Orléans and the Fondation Orange. It belongs to the Fédération des Ensembles Vocaux et Instrumentaux Spécialisés (FEVIS).