La flûte traversière (traverso) or la flute allemande (German flute) was the most popular instrument in France during the 18th century. The famous flute virtuoso Pierre-Gabriel Buffardin (1690-1768), teacher of both Johann Jacob Bach and of Joachim Quantz, spent a large part of his career in Dresden. In this way he provided a link between Jacques Hotteterre and J.S.Bach. Therefore Les Buffardins is a very apt name for an ensemble that applies itself mostly to French and German flute music. Traverso player Frank Theuns founded the ensemble and can count on harpsichordist Siebe Henstra and gamba player Martin Bauer as steady partners. Depending on the programme, musicians belonging to the same family of mind such as François Fernandez, Marc Hantaï, Ewald Demeyere or Rainer Zipperling join them. Their repertoire features flute duos, flute sonatas, flute suites with basso continuo, brunettes, concertos and cantatas. Les Buffardins have released seven CDs, with compositions by, among others, J.P.  Kirnberger, J. Hotteterre, M. Blavet, M.P. de Montéclair, J.B. de Boismortier, G.F. Händel, and G.B. Sammartini.