As a child, Ines learnt to sing and dance ballet, and played the violin for thirteen years. Yet, when it came time to enter adult life, she did not rush into the limelight. She studied law, journalism and political science, then went on to work at the Foreign Office, NATO, in political communications and with opera singers, amongst other roles. An impressive, serious, almost institutional career path. But music never really faded from her life.
At the age of 26, Ines decided to take this passion seriously. She enrolled in an opera singing class at the Paris Regional Conservatoire and gradually left the corridors of power behind for the backstage of theatres. This was not merely a career change. It was a reclaiming of her true self. As if she had long been preparing for another life before finally accepting to live her own. Her official biography recounts this turning point without unnecessary embellishment: she simply knew that her destiny lay elsewhere.
Her stage name says it all. Ines de las Sierras means ‘Ines of the mountains’ in Spanish and refers to the Djurdjura Mountains in Upper Kabylie, where her paternal ancestors came from. A name that evokes heritage, height, displacement and a touch of romance. It could have been that of a literary heroine or a singer straight out of an old film. It now belongs to a very real artist.
With her debut album, *Romanza*, released on 30 January 2026, Ines de las Sierras carefully avoids being pigeonholed. Jazz, tango, French chanson, classical music, Balkan rhythms, Russian romances, Eastern influences, funk and musette all come together on the album. The project might seem like a mere catalogue. Instead, it becomes a musical self-portrait: that of a woman shaped by multiple cultures, multiple languages and multiple lives.
Paris is the album’s invisible protagonist. Not merely the Paris of monuments and postcards, but the Paris of rain, quays, love affairs, waiting, departures and absences. Paris as a temporary home, a refuge, a stage and a promise. The poems by Bruno Edelman-Niver, recited between certain songs, link the tracks together and give the whole the feel of an inner journey.
In ‘Romanza’, the title track of the album, Ines lends her voice to uprooted peoples and to those seeking a homeland, whether real or imagined. ‘Au bout du monde’ tells the story of a young woman trapped in a country under dictatorship, ready to leave everything behind to live freely. ‘Noir Tango’ becomes a song of female emancipation, whilst ‘Ombre de minuit’ transforms the banks of the Seine into a cinematic setting, amidst muted trumpet and nocturnal solitude. ‘Moscou-Paris’ speaks of romantic distance, ‘Divina’ unleashes her operatic voice, and ‘Je t’aimeuh’ dares to embrace the irony of a slightly off-kilip guinguette. The songs reveal an album permeated by exile, love, jealousy, freedom and the passing of time.
Ines possesses a rich, supple and expressive voice, but she does not seek merely to demonstrate her technique. She performs, acts, dances and embodies characters. For her, the singer and the actress go hand in hand. This theatrical dimension naturally gave rise to the show *Romanza – Une diva à Paris*, performed at the Café de la Danse in February 2026, then at the Adelaide Fringe Festival in Australia, before heading to the Avignon Off Festival during the summer.
The word ‘diva’ can be intimidating. It sometimes conjures up images of tantrums, grand staircases and people demanding that white flowers be removed from their dressing rooms. For Ines de las Sierras, it seems to mean something else: a love of performance, elegance and grand artistic gesture. She makes no apology for loving the spectacle, the costumes, lyricism or powerful emotions. At a time when many artists seek to appear detached from everything, she, on the contrary, embraces intensity.
This profusion is both her strength and her greatest challenge. By blending so many styles, Ines runs the risk of confusing those who prefer neatly defined labels. But to ask her to choose between jazz, tango, opera or French chanson would be precisely to strip her of what sets her apart. Her artistic identity lies in the transitions, the friction and the contradictions.
Ines de las Sierras is not yet a singer known to the general public. Now is precisely the right time to discover her. Before her biographies are simplified, before record labels start looking for a formula, and before people claim they’ve always supported her. She already has a world of her own, a name that sticks in the mind and a voice that clearly has no intention of asking for permission.
Following *Romanza*, she is now working on a new album. It remains to be seen how far her journey will take her. But she has already accomplished the hardest part: leaving behind the life that seemed sensible to embrace the one that truly reflected who she is.
