Gautier Capuçon

Gautier Capuçon (born 3 September 1981) is a French classical cellist who made an international career. He is the younger brother of violinist Renaud Capuçon.

Early life Gautier Capuçon was born in Chambéry, Savoie, on 3 September 1981, the youngest of three siblings. His brother is the violinist Renaud Capuçon. Capuçon started learning the cello when he was four years old under Augustin Lefèbvre. He also started learning piano at the age of seven with the aim to play jazz .

As a student, Capuçon played cello in the European Community Youth Orchestra (now the European Union Youth Orchestra) and also in the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, playing under conductors including Bernard Haitink, Pierre Boulez and Claudio Abbado.

Capuçon first studied at the Conservatoire à rayonnement régional de Chambéry Then in Paris, he studied the cello initially with Annie Cochet-Zakine, who had heard him in Chambéry and brought him with her to the Conservatoire Supérieur de Paris (CNR).

Career Gautier Capuçon has performed and recorded music since the 2000s. In addition, Capuçon has featured in EMI's annual CD releases of live recordings from the Lugano Festival each year, "Martha Argerich & Friends", at which he is a frequent returning guest performer.

In 2014 he started a teaching program called the Classe d'Excellence de Violoncello with funding from the Fondation Louis Vuitton. The program was created for pre-professional graduate students and has featured musicians such as Margarita Balanas , Nathan Chan, Julia Hagen, and Stéphane Tétreault.

This was succeeded by the Foundation Gautier Capuçon in 2022, which included financial scholarships, and permitted violinists, violists and pianists. The foundation is supported by the Fondation de France and alongside Capuçon, is headed by Frank Braley and Alain Altinoglu. Laureatues include Anastasia Rizikov.

Capuçon hosted the radio show Les Garnets de Gautier Capuçon on Radio Classique from 2019-2025. He has also been a judge on the French 2's annual children's talent show Prodiges, which features classical ballet and music, since 2014. Other television credits include an episode of Now Hear This on the American television network PBS, hosted by Scott Yoo ; Symphony Pour la Vie; and The Artist Academy.

Un été en France (A Summer in France) is a series of concerts created by Capuçon that began in 2020.

Cello Capuçon's principal instrument is a 1701 Matteo Goffriller cello which he has on loan. The cello is named L'Ambassadeur and was loaned to him by "a private donor".

I am very lucky to be playing this cello for ten, nearly eleven, years now. It is a Matteo Goffriller, of the Venetian school, from 1701. All the Goffriller cellos that I have tried are not easy to play. For each note you need to know how much bow pressure, how much vibrato and how much bow speed you can put on it. It is an instrument that you really need to know to be able to play; it is not like a Montagnana or a Stradivarius. Montagnana, for example – most of them are really easy to play. So in a way, on the Goffriller, I probably search more and look more for different things.

Describing a Montagnana cello as his "dream" instrument of choice, he said: "I hope one day to be able to play on a Montagnana."

Intuition

Emotions

Souvenirs

Sensations

Destination Paris

Collaborations

DVDs Date album title Credited to2013 The European Concert - Brahms / Haydn / Beethoven (as DVD) Gautier Capuçon / Berliner Philharmoniker / Gustavo Dudamel

Management Gautier Capuçon is represented by:

France: Agence Artistique Jacques Thelen, Paris UK: Harrison Parrott Germany: Weigold & Böhm North America: Columbia Artists Management Inc., New York Japan: Kajimoto Concert Management, Tokyo

Personal life Capuçon was married to French concert cellist Delphine Borsarello from 2007 to 2024. The pair have two daughters, Fée and Sissi, who also play music.

Capuçon enjoys playing jazz piano recreationally.

He had an appendectomy in 2009 that caused him to cancel a concert with the San Francisco Symphony