Renaud Capuçon
Artistic Director, Aix-en-Provence Easter Festival
Artistic Director, Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne
Artistic Director, Rencontres Musicales d'Évian
Artistic Director, Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad
French violinist and conductor Renaud Capuçon is firmly established internationally as a major soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician. He is known and loved for his poise, depth of tone and virtuosity, and he works with the world’s most prestigious orchestras, artists, venues, and festivals.
Born in Chambéry in 1976, Renaud Capuçon began his studies at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris at the age of fourteen, winning numerous awards during his five years there. Following this, Capuçon moved to Berlin to study with Thomas Brandis and Isaac Stern and was awarded the Prize of the Berlin Academy of Arts. In 1997, Claudio Abbado invited him to become concertmaster of the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, which he led for three summers, working with conductors including Boulez, Ozawa, Welser-Möst, and Claudio Abbado.
Since then, Capuçon has established himself as a soloist at the very highest level. He performs with leading orchestras such as the Berliner Philharmoniker, Wiener Philharmoniker, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Filarmonica della Scala, London Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre National de France, Budapest Festival Orchestra, and Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra. His many conductor relationships include Barenboim, Bychkov, Dénève, Dohnanyi, Dudamel, Eschenbach, Haitink, Harding, Paavo Järvi, Mäkelä, Nelsons, Nézet-
Seguin, Roth, Shani, Sokhiev, Ticciati, Long Yu, and van Zweden. Highlights in the 2026/27 season include performances with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France for its season-opening concerts inaugurating Jaap van Zweden's tenure as Music Director, with the San Francisco Symphony under Music Director Designate Elim Chan, and with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Münchner Philharmoniker, as well as the world premiere of Glanert’s Double Violin Concerto with Midori and the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig.
A great commitment to chamber music has led him to collaborations with Argerich, Angelich, Barenboim, Bashmet, Bronfman, Buniatishvili, Fujita, Grimaud, Levit, Pires, Soltani, Trifonov, Yo-Yo Ma, and Yuja Wang, and have taken him, among others, to the Berlin, Lucerne, Verbier, Aix-en-Provence, Roque d’Anthéron, San Sebastián, Stresa, Salzburg, Edinburgh International, and Tanglewood festivals.
Capuçon has represented France at some of the world’s most prestigious international events. He performed alongside Yo-Yo Ma beneath the Arc de Triomphe at the official Armistice Day commemoration in the presence of more than 80 heads of state, and has performed for world leaders at the G7 Summits in Biarritz and Évian. He also performed at the reopening ceremony of the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris with his brother, cellist Gautier Capuçon, which was attended by more than 1,500 international dignitaries.
Since 2021, Capuçon has been the Artistic Director of the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, where he usually appears as conductor and play-director. In the 2026/27 season, Capuçon leads the orchestra on a European tour with Martha Argerich and directs a Beethoven cycle marking the bicentenary of the composer's death.
He is regularly invited to conduct leading orchestras including the Wiener Symphoniker, Karajan-Academy of the Berliner Philharmoniker, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Gürzenich Orchester Köln, Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra, and Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, to name only a few. Guest conducting highlights in the 2026/27 season include debuts with the Toronto Symphony, where he is Spotlight Artist, and the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin at the Philharmonie Berlin, alongside a return to the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra.
Capuçon is the Artistic Director of three festivals; the Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad since 2016, the Easter Festival in Aix-en-Provence, which he founded in 2013, and, most recently, the Rencontres Musicales Festival in Evian from 2023.
Capuçon has built an extensive discography. In September 2022, Capuçon announced the launch of his creative partnership with Deutsche Grammophon, and two months later released his first album with the yellow label – a collection of violin sonatas performed with Martha Argerich. More recent releases include a multi-CD album of Mozart’s 16 violin sonatas with pianist Kit Armstrong, a recording of the complete Mozart violin concertos with the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, and a collection of works by Fauré to mark the centenary of the composer’s death. Released in January 2026 to coincide with the momentous occasion of his 50th birthday, Capuçon’s recording of J.S. Bach’s complete Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin (BWV 1001-1006) is among his most recent releases.
Since 2014, Capuçon has taught at the Haute École de Musique in Lausanne. In June 2011, he was appointed 'Chevalier de l'Ordre National du Mérite' and in March 2016 'Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur' by the French Government. In March 2020, he published his first book, titled ‘Mouvement perpétuel’.
Capuçon plays the Guarneri del Gesù 'Panette' (1737), which belonged to Isaac Stern.
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