Gautier Capucon

• Cellist

Biography

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 five 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 Musique with Philippe Muller and with Heinrich Schiff in Vienna. In 1999, Mr. Capuçon won First Prize in the Maurice Ravel Music Academy of Saint-Jean-de Luz, Second Prize in the International Cello Competition in Christchurch (New Zealand) and First Prize in the André Navarra Competition in Toulouse. In June 2000, he won the Cello and Chamber Music Prize in the CNSMP and received a Burlotti-Buitoni- Trust award in 2004.

During 1997 and 1998, as musician of the European Community Youth Orchestra and the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, he had the opportunity to expand his musical experiences with Bernard Haitink, Kent Nagano, Pierre Boulez, Daniele Gatti, Seiji Ozawa and Claudio Abbado, with whom he has taken part in two European tours. Mr. Capucon has given recitals in Berlin, Brussels, Hannover, Dresden, London, Paris, and Vienna and has appeared in the Chambéry, Divonne, Menton, Saint-Denis, Sceaux and Strasbourg Festivals, as well as in the Berlin, Davos, Jerusalem, Lockenhaus, Verbier Festivals, the “Martha Argerich Festival” in Lugano and La Côte Basque Festival with the Bordeaux Orchestra conducted by Hans Graf. Mr. Capuçon has toured in France, Switzerland and Germany with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe conducted by Myung-Whun Chung. He also performed with the Bordeaux, Cannes, Lille, Pays de Savoie, Strasbourg, Belgrade, Jerusalem, Liège Orchestras, Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Houston Symphony/Hans Graf, Orchestre Philharmonic de Radio France, Solistes Européens du Luxenbourg as well as with the Roma Santa Cecilia Orchestra and Myung-Whun Chung, the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris and John Nelson, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo and Armin Jordan, and the Orchestre de Paris and Christoph Eschenbach.

In January 2005 he went on a Japan tour with Martha Argerich, played recitals in London, Brussels, Amsterdam, Paris, Bergen, Biot, Nahant, and received invitations to play at prestigious festivals as the Schubertiade Schwarzenberg, Ruhrfestival, Rheingau Musik Festival, Lugano Festival, Festival Mitte Europa and Spoleto Festival among others. Recent highlights have included performances with the Munich Philharmonic under Paavo Järvi, Orchestre National de France, Dresden Philharmonie, a tour with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, a critical acclaimed US recital tour with his brother Renaud Capucon, appearances with the Orchestre de Bordeaux/ Louis Langrée, Orchestre de Lyon, Camerata Athens with Sir Neville Marriner, a trio tour through Italy with Katia Labèque and Victoria Mullova, a tour with the Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire, a tour with the New Zealand Symphony and a tour through China with the Orchestre de Strasbourg under Marc Albrecht. In 2006, he gave his critically acclaimed debuts with The Philadelphia Orchestra under Charles Dutoit and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra under Hans Graf.

Highlights in the US include his debut with the National Symphony Orchestra under Leonard Slatkin in February 2007, a return engagement with the Philadelphia Orchestra in August 2007, and a trio tour with Renaud Capucon and pianist Nicolas Angelich in February 2008. A dedicated chamber musician, he performs with Martha Argerich, Daniel Barenboim, Yuri Bashmet, Frank Braley, Gérard Caussé, Myung-Whun Chung, Michel Dalberto, Jérôme Ducros, Hélène Grimaud, Paul Gulda, Stephen Kovacevich, Katia and Marielle Labèque, Vadim Repin, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Lilya Zilberstein, Nikolaj Znaider, Castagneri and Ysaye Quartets and his brother Renaud Capuçon. As a Virgin Classics exclusive artist, he has recorded Ravel’s chamber music with his brother Renaud and Frank Braley and Brahms’ Piano Trios No. 1, 2 and 3, with brother Renaud and pianist Nicholas Angelich. Now considered one of the most promising cellists of his generation, his first solo recording is of Haydn’s Cello Concertos with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra under Daniel Harding, and is followed by Face à Face, a disc of 20th-century works for cello and violin, with Renaud. Mr. Capuçon’s release of Schubert’s Trout Piano Quintet with his brother Renaud, Gérard Caussé, Alois Posch and Frank Braley was named Editor’s choice by the Gramophone Magazine (March 2005) and Disc of the month in February 2005 by Classic FM. In January of 2008, Mr. Capuçon will release a CD of Prokofiev and Rachmaninoff Sonatas with Gabriella Montero.

Gautier Capuçon plays a 1701 Matteo Goffriler.