Sylvain Sartre is a significant figure on the French early music scene, active as both a flutist and an ensemble director. He is a co-founder of the ensemble Les Ombres and serves as its co-artistic director. Sartre and a classmate, viola da gamba player Margaux Blanchard, founded the ensemble Les Ombres in 2006. Les Ombres released a recording of François Couperin's Les Nations in 2012. Sartre has remained active as a flutist beyond his work with Les Ombres. He has continued to record with that group, both as a flutist and conductor. In the former capacity, he was heard on the 2022 Les Ombres release Bach-Abel Society, and as a conductor, he backed violinist Théotime Langlois de Swarte that year on an album of violin concertos by Leclair, Vivaldi, and Locatelli.