French violinist 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 Pierre Boulez, Seiji Ozawa, Franz 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, Boston Symphony, Filarmonica della Scala, London Symphony Orchestra, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Münchner Philharmoniker, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, and Chamber Orchestra of Europe. His many conductor relationships include Daniel Barenboim, Semjon Bychkov, Stéphane Dénève, Christoph von Dohnanyi, 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 in the 2024/25 season include European tours with the Budapest Festival Orchestra under Iván Fischer as well as the Vienna Symphony under Petr Popelka, a return to the Toronto Symphony with Gustavo Gimeno, and a world premiere of Muhly’s Violin Concerto with the New York Philharmonic under Marin Alsop.
A great commitment to chamber music has led him to collaborations with Martha Argerich, Daniel Barenboim, Yuri Bashmet, Yefim Bronfman, Khatia Buniatishvili, Hélène Grimaud, Igor Levit, Maria João Pires, Kian Soltani, Daniil 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 has performed with Yo-Yo Ma under the Arc de Triomphe for the official commemoration of Armistice Day in the presence of more than 80 heads of state and played for world leaders at the G7 Summit in Biarritz. In December 2024, Capuçon 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. He is regularly invited to conduct leading orchestras including the Vienna Symphony, Luxembourg Philharmonic, Gürzenich Orchester Köln, Orchestra Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, Karajan-Academy of the Berliner Philharmoniker, Prague Radio Symphony, and Hungarian Radio Symphony.
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, he 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 and recorded at his Easter Festival in Aix-en-Provence. 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 concerti with the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, and a collection of works by Fauré – marking the centenary of the composer’s death – performed together with Julia Hagen, Guillaume Bellom, and the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne. Capuçon’s latest album, released in 2025, presents a compendium of works by Richard Strauss, in which numerous solo and chamber works are bookended by a new studio recording of the composer’s Violin Concerto, performed with the Wiener Symphoniker under Petr Popelka, and a reading of “Ein Heldenleben” from 2000, performed by the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, led by Capuçon, and conducted by the late Seiji Ozawa.
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.