“It’s the rare performer who can bring such ease and refinement to this music, while still giving everything he plays a sense of dramatic urgency”

"San Francisco Chronicle"

Born in Chambéry, Capuçon began playing the cello at the age of five. He studied at the Conservatoire National Supérieur in Paris with Philippe Muller and Annie Cochet-Zakine, and later with Heinrich Schiff in Vienna.

Gautier Capuçon is a true 21st century ambassador for the cello. Performing each season with many of the world’s foremost conductors and instrumentalists, he is also founder and leader of the ​‘Classe d’Excellence de Violoncelle’ at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris – based in the new Auditorium designed by Frank Gehry.  Acclaimed internationally for his expressive musicianship, exuberant virtuosity, and for the deep sonority of his 1701 Matteo Goffriller cello, Capuçon is this season’s Artist in Residence with Orquesta de Valencia.

The 2018/19 season sees Capuçon premiere a new concerto for cello and piano (Dubugnon Eros Athanatos) with Jean-Yves Thibaudet – a piece written for the duo – with symphony orchestras of West Australia, Antwerp, WDR and Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. Elsewhere, he performs as soloist with, amongst others: the philharmonic orchestras of New York, Los Angeles, Munich and the Czech Republic; the symphony orchestras of Chicago, NHKand Sydney; Chamber Orchestra of Europe and Orchestre de Paris. As a chamber musician, he performs with Lisa Batiashvili and Jean-Yves Thibaudet on an extensive piano trio European tour, as well as appearing with recital partners Frank Braley, Gabriela Montero, Jean-Yves Thibaudet and Yuja Wang in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Walt Disney Hall, Aix en Provence and the Musikverein.

 Recording exclusively for Erato (Warner Classics), Capuçon has won multiple awards and holds an extensive discography. His latest album – Intuition — was released in 2018 and recorded with the Paris Chamber Orchestra/​Douglas Boyd and Jérôme Ducros. Earlier recordings include concertos by Shostakovich (The Mariinsky Orchestra/​Valery Gergiev) and Saint-Saëns (Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France/​Lionel Bringuier), the complete Beethoven Sonatas with Frank Braley, and Schubert’s String Quintet with the Ébène Quartet. Capuçon’s next album – a disk of Schumann works — will be released in January 2019. Elsewhere, he appears on screen and online in programmes such as The Artist Academy, Prodiges, and Now Hear This, and in 2013 Deutsche Grammophon released a DVDfeaturing Capuçon as soloist with the Berliner Philharmoniker and Gustavo Dudamel in a live performance of Haydn’s Cello Concerto No.1.