Renaud Capuçon
A cosmopolitan, sensitive gentleman with an inexhaustible repertoire who makes the violin sing in all its facets – violinist Renaud Capuçon is undisputedly one of the leading musicians of our time. Whether as a soloist, chamber musician, festival director, or teacher, the Frenchman with the unmistakable dark, shimmering tone combines creativity and virtuosity in his diverse projects and broad repertoire, and shines in his collaborations with renowned orchestras, conductors, and fellow musicians.
Born in Chambéry in 1976, he began his musical training at the age of 14 at the Paris Conservatory, where he won numerous prizes while still a student. He then studied in Berlin with Thomas Brandis and Isaac Stern. In 1997, Claudio Abbado appointed him concertmaster of the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra, where he worked for three years with conductors such as Pierre Boulez, Seiji Ozawa, Franz Welser-Möst, and Claudio Abbado.
Since then, Renaud Capuçon has established himself as one of the most important violin soloists of our time. He has performed with leading orchestras such as the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestras, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Filarmonica della Scala, London Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Munich Philharmonic, and Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra under the baton of renowned conductors such as Daniel Barenboim, Semyon Bychkov, Stéphane Denève, Christoph von Dohnányi, Gustavo Dudamel, Christoph Eschenbach, Bernard Haitink, Daniel Harding, Paavo Järvi, Klaus Mäkelä, Andris Nelsons, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, François-Xavier Roth, Lahav Shani, Tugan Sokhiev, Robin Ticciati, Long Yu, and Jaap van Zweden.
Highlights of the 2025/26 season include two performances at Carnegie Hall, a Europe tour with the Budapest Festival Orchestra under Iván Fischer, and returns to the Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig, the Staatskapelle Berlin, and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Chamber music plays a particularly important role in Renaud Capuçon's work. Not only as artistic director of the Festival de Pâques in Aix-en-Provence, which he founded, the Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad, and the Rencontres Musicales d'Évian, he lives out his love for smaller ensembles. Chamber music invitations take the violinist to festivals in Salzburg, Edinburgh, Lucerne, Verbier, Roque d’Anthéron, and Tanglewood. His musical partners include pianists Martha Argerich, Nicholas Angelich, Yefim Bronfman, Khatia Buniatishvili, Hélène Grimaud, Igor Levit, Maria João Pires, and Yuja Wang, violist Yuri Bashmet, and cellists Julia Hagen and Gautier Capuçon.
Renaud Capuçon has represented France at prestigious international events: He performed with Yo-Yo Ma under the Arc de Triomphe in Paris at the official commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Armistice after World War I and played for the heads of state and government at the G7 summit in Biarritz. Most recently, he performed with his brother Gautier Capuçon at the ceremonial reopening of Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral in front of over 1,500 international guests.
Since 2021, he has been artistic director of the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, which he leads as conductor or from the violin. As a guest conductor, he is regularly invited by the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the Karajan Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic, the Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne, and the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, among others. The 2025/26 season will include a tour with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, further appearances with the Luxembourg Philharmonic and the Orchestre National de Mulhouse, and conducting debuts with the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège, Orchestre National de Mulhouse, Symfonieorkest Vlaanderen, and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s as part of the 2026 Bach Festival at Carnegie Hall.
Renaud Capuçon has already made a name for himself with his internationally acclaimed discography: since 2022, he has released a highly praised duo album with Martha Argerich, all of Mozart's violin sonatas with Kit Armstrong, and Mozart's violin concertos with the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne in partnership with Deutsche Grammophon. Previously, Erato/Warner Classics released Elgar's Violin Concerto and Violin Sonata with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Simon Rattle, as well as recordings of violin concertos by Vivaldi and Saint George with the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne. He also recorded a digital album featuring Mozart's two piano quartets, released by Beau Soir Productions, Renaud Capuçon's unique initiative that provides comprehensive support to young talents at a crucial stage in their careers.
His album Au Cinema, featuring popular film scores, was followed in February 2024 by Les Choses de la Vie – Cinema II. His most recent releases include a complete recording of Mozart's 16 sonatas with Kit Armstrong, Mozart's violin concertos with the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne and an album featuring works by Fauré to mark the 100th anniversary of his death. In 2025, a CD box set was released featuring works by Richard Strauss, including a new studio recording of the violin concerto with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra under Petr Popelka and a recording of “Ein Heldenleben” with the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra under Seiji Ozawa from 2000.
The next release on Deutsche Grammophon is planned for January 2026.
Renaud Capuçon has been teaching at the Lausanne University of Music since 2014. He was appointed Chevalier de l’Ordre national du Mérite in 2011 and Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur in 2016. In March 2020, he published his first book, Mouvement perpétuel.
Renaud Capuçon plays the Guarneri violin “Panette” from 1737, which previously belonged to Isaac Stern.
