Renaud Capuçon

French violinist Renaud Capuçon began his studies at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris at the age of fourteen, before moving to Berlin to study with Thomas Brandis and Isaac Stern. In 1997, he was invited by Claudio Abbado to become concertmaster of the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, which he led for three summers. An active concert artist, Capuçon has performed with such orchestras as the Berliner Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Orchestre de Paris, Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre National de France and the Simon Bolivar Orchestra with conductors Bernard Haitink, Christoph von Dohnanyi, Christoph Eschenbach, Paavo Järvi and Gustavo Dudamel. A committed chamber musician, he has worked with Martha Argerich, Daniel Barenboim, Yefim Bronfman, Hélène Grimaud, Mikhail Pletnev, Vadim Repin, Yuri Bashmet and Truls Mørk, as well as with his brother, cellist Gautier Capuçon. He is artistic director of the Easter Festival in Aix-en-Provence which he founded in 2013, and he was recently appointed artistic director of the Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad. The EMI/Virgin Classics artist plays the 1737 Guarneri del Gesù 'Panette' that belonged to Isaac Stern.

Photo: Simon Fowler / Warner Classics