Les Inoubliables Festival: Another History of the Guitar

Show, festival (concert, dance, theatre)

Set off on a musical journey through several centuries of women’s creativity with the ‘Les Inoubliables’ festival at the Chateau de Voltaire in Ferney!

  • Monday 12 October 2026:

    7.30 pm

  • Price to be confirmed

  • Suitable for all ages

  • 1 hour 30 minutes

  • Tickets available soon

Overview

The second edition of the Les Inoubliables Festival returns to Geneva and the surrounding area in 2026! 

A festival dedicated to female composers past and present in classical music and jazz, this second edition will take place over the course of a single concert at the Château de Voltaire, featuring“Une autre histoire de la guitare” by the duo Philomèle!

Formed by Léa Masson and Dania El Zein, the duo met at the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique ( CNSMDP). Together, the two musicians take the audience on a journey through several centuries of women’s creative output, from the theorbo (the guitar’s predecessor) to the repertoires of the 20th century.

Long associated with salons, the guitar’s history has nevertheless been largely shaped by women composers, whose works are still far too rarely heard. Through rediscovered works and more contemporary pieces, this programme highlights the enduring presence of women in the history of this instrument and invites the audience to take a fresh look at a musical heritage that remains largely unknown.

Line-up

Léa Masson 

A guitarist, theorbo player and chamber musician, Léa Masson became convinced at a very early age of the importance of cultural and stylistic diversity in the approach to musical performance.

Whilst studying classical guitar at the Paris Conservatoire (CNSM), she developed a passion for chamber music, which led her to specialise in this discipline: both as a performer and as a musicologist.

It was this same interest in ensemble music that led her to discover the theorbo, an instrument particularly suited to accompanying Baroque music. She performs regularly as a soloist and in ensembles on this instrument. She is also involved in the creation and promotion of contemporary works, both as a soloist and in ensembles, in a wide variety of formations.

 Dania El Zein

Noted for her musicality, her attention to the text and her “clear and natural” timbre, Dania El Zein is a young soprano who graduated from theÉcole Normale de Musique de Paris Alfred Cortot, where she obtained her Concertist Diploma in 2013, and from the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris, where she was awarded a Master’s degree in voice and chamber music in 2016. Following an Erasmus exchange in Germany, she furthered her studies at the Queen Elisabeth Chapel and with the Opera Fuoco ensemble. For several years now, she has been studying under E. Golgévit.

She has won prizes at several international competitions. On stage, she performs the Baroque repertoire alongside renowned conductors and ensembles such as: J.C. Malgoire, O. Fortin, Les Folies Françoises, La Rêveuse, Correspondances, Amarillis and Le Songe du Roi; and the classical to contemporary repertoire, with several world premieres to her credit (Finzi, Pécou, Mulsant, Angot Mondon…). She performs as a soloist in France and abroad, at prestigious venues and festivals: the Philharmonie de Paris, Radio France, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Théâtre du Châtelet, Salle Cortot, Salle Gaveau, the Palace of Versailles, Salle Philharmonique de Liège, the Beijing Music Festival, the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, the Mirecourt Festival…

Passionate about chamber music, Dania founded the Duo Arya with pianist Agnès Graziano. Later, they expanded their repertoire through the Trio Sélénia, which was invited to perform at the “Grandes Heures de Cluny” in 2023. 

The Duo Philomèle was formed with guitarist and theorbo player Léa Masson in 2021. Their programme ‘Salon romantique’ premiered that same year at the Eva Ganizate Festival. They also present another programme focusing on female Baroque composers, entitled ‘Les merveilleuses du Grand Siècle’. 

Dania is also a member of an a cappella vocal ensemble directed by Elisabeth Angot, the Ensemble 44, which explores 1,000 years of vocal music, from Gregorian chant to contemporary music and new compositions.

Alongside her recitals, Dania sings cantatas ranging from Montéclair to Bach and is also involved in unconventional projects, such as with the ensemble Le Palais des Songes at the Festival des Jeunes Talents, or at Avignon Off with L’Envolée Lyrique and their show *The Grüne Ruban*.