Born in 1945 in Athens, Aperghis grew up as the son of the sculptor Achille Aperghis and the painter Irène Aperghis. He is for the most part a self-taught painter and composer. In 1963 he moved to Paris. He has been influenced musically by composers such as Pierre Schaeffer; Pierre Henry; Iannis Xenakis; John Cage; and Mauricio Kagel. In 1971 »La Tragique histoire du nécromancien Hieronimoet et de son miroir« appeared, his first music theater work, and he became the highest profile representative of music theater in France. In 1976 he founded the theater group Atelier Théâtre et Musique (ATEM) in Bagnolet (which has been at Théâtre des Amandiers in Nanterre since 1991). The group performed more than twenty pieces there before disbanding, including »La bouteille à la mer« (1976); »Conversations« (1985); »Énumérations« (1988); »Jojo« (1990); »H« (1992); »Sextuor« (1993); and »Commentaires« (1996).

She started studying music (violin and piano) at Conservatoire National de Région in Nantes when she was seven years old. She became a member of the children's choir at the opera house in Nantes when she was eleven. In 1985 she was accepted to the voice class at the conservatory in Paris. Thanks to her close collaboration with IRCAM (since 1993) she has performed the world premieres of numerous works by, among others, Philippe Manoury; Pascal Dusapin; Luca Francesconi; Georges Aperghis; Fausto Romitelli; and Philippe Leroux.