GAUTIER CAPUÇON has been called “A young star in the cello firmament” by Gramophone.  Since winning the French Victoires de la Musique as “New Talent of the Year” in 2001 he has quickly established himself as one of the leading cellists of his generation.  Born in Chambéry, France in 1981, Gautier Capuçon was four and a half years old when he began to study the cello at the Ecole Nationale de Musique de Chambéry. He studied in Paris at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris with Philippe Muller, Annie Cochet-Zakine and Christophe Egiziano, as well as Heinrich Schiff in Vienna. In addition to numerous first and second place prizes in international competitions, Gautier won the Cello and Chamber Music Prize at the Conservatoire in June 2000 and received a Burlotti-Buitoni Trust award in 2004.  His musical experiences progressed greatly while playing in the European Community Youth Orchestra and the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, as he was afforded opportunities to work with Bernard Haitink, Kent Nagano, Pierre Boulez, Daniele Gatti, Seiji Ozawa and Claudio Abbado, with whom he has taken part in two European tours.

The  2012-2013 season will see Mr. Capuçon return to the symphony orchestras of Chicago with Brahms Violin and Cello Concerto with Renaud Capuçon under the baton of Ricardo Muti, the Los Angeles Symphony with Charles Dutoit, Seattle Symphony with David Afkham and the San Francisco Symphony with Juraj Valcuha.

In the 2011-2012 season, Mr. Capuçon debuted with Symphonies of Chicago, Boston and Montreal, and returned for performances with National Symphony Orchestra and Philadelphia Orchestra. In Europe, Mr. Capuçon debuted with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (Europa Konzert) with Gustavo Dudamel and with the London Symphony Orchestra and Valery Gergiev. He also embarked on a tour of China with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra under Juan Mena.

Mr. Capuçon’s 2010-2011 season included a special tour with pianist Gabriella Montero featuring works from their recording, Rhapsody, in Montreal, New York City, Baltimore, Washington D.C., Seattle, Kansas City and Calgary, AB.  Mr. Capuçon made his debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Lionel Bringuier, where he returned only months later for a performance of Brahms Violin and Cello Concerto with Renaud Capuçon and Maestro Gustavo Dudamel. He also returned to the San Francisco Symphony for a performance of Tout un monde lontain by Dutilleux with Charles Dutoit. 

Recent seasons have offered his debut with Cincinnati Orchestra under the direction of Paavo Järvi, critically acclaimed debuts with The Philadelphia Orchestra with Charles Dutoit and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra with Hans Graf, a debut with the National Symphony Orchestra with Leonard Slatkin, and a tour of North America with the Capuçon-Angelich Trio.

Recent highlights include performances with the Munich Philharmonic with Paavo Järvi, London Proms with the Radio France Philharmonic and Myung-Whun Chung, Orchestre de Paris with Paavo Järvi in Pleyel Paris and Musikvereine Vienna, Dresden Philharmonie, a tour with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, appearances with the Bordeaux, Monte-Carlo, Lyon, Lille Orchestras, Camerata Athens with Sir Neville Marriner, a trio tour through Italy with Katia Labèque and Victoria Mullova, a tour with the New Zealand Symphony.  In August 2008, Mr. Capuçon collaborated with his brother Renaud, Martha Argerich and Gustavo Dudamel at the Salzburg Festival, performing Beethoven’s Triple Concerto, which was recorded for a live DVD.

Mr. Capuçon has given recitals in Berlin, Brussels, Hannover, Dresden, London, Paris, and Vienna, and has appeared in the Saint-Denis Festival, Strasbourg, Berlin, Verbier, Davos, Jerusalem, and Lockenhaus Festivals.  He appears regularly at the “Martha Argerich Festival” in Lugano and has performed at La Côte Basque Festival.  A dedicated chamber musician, Mr. Capuçon performs with Nicholas Angelich, Martha Argerich, Daniel Barenboim, Yuri Bashmet, Frank Braley, Gérard Caussé, Myung-Whun Chung, Michel Dalberto, Hélène Grimaud, Leonidas Kavakos, Angelika Kirschlager, Stephen Kovacevich, Katia and Marielle Labèque, Gabriela Montero, Vadim Repin, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Yuja Wang, Maxime Vengerov. Lilya Zilberstein, Nikolaj Znaider, Ebene and Ysaye Quartets, and his brother Renaud.

As an international orchestral soloist, Mr. Capuçon has toured France, Switzerland and Germany with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, conducted by Myung-Whun Chung. He has also performed with Belgrade, Jerusalem and Liège Orchestras, Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Solistes Européens du Luxenbourg in addition to the Roma Santa Cecilia Orchestra, the Orchestre de Paris with Christoph Eschenbach, and the Philharmonia Orchestra.

Mr. Capuçon records exclusively for Virgin Classics.  Mr. Capuçon’s first recording with the Mariinsky Orchestra and Valery Gergiev in the new Concert Hall in St. Petersburg was released in 2010 and features Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations and Prokofiev’s Sinfonia Concertante.  His highly anticipated recording of the Dvořák and Herbert cello concertos, released in February 2009, with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra and Paavo Järvi, was named Gramophone Magazine Editor’s Choice in the April 2009 issue.  His January 2008 release of Prokofiev and Rachmaninoff Sonatas with pianist Gabriella Montero, entitled Rhapsody, received the following praise from String Magazine: “It is hard to imagine a more deeply felt, compellingly projected performance of these works. Both players are masters of their instruments.”  Additional recordings include the Haydn Cello Concertos; a disc of 20th-century works for cello and violin, with his brother Renaud, entitled Face à Face; and Schubert’s Trout Piano Quintet, which was hailed as the February 2005 Disc of the Month by Classic FM.

Since 2007 Gautier Capuçon has been an Ambassador for Zegna & Music project, which was founded in 1997 as a philanthropic activity to promote music and its values.

The acquisition of Mr. Capuçon’s Dominique Peccatte bow was made possible in part by the Colas Group, which also co-produced with Virgin Classics, his most recent recording with Mariinsky Orchestra and Valery Gergiev

Gautier Capuçon plays a 1701 Matteo Goffriler cello.