Gautier Capuçon
Gautier Capuçon was born in Chambéry, Savoie, the youngest of three siblings. His brother is the violinist Renaud Capuçon.
He started learning the cello when he was four years old. He began his formal musical education in his hometown at the Ecole Nationale de Musique de Chambéry, where he graduated with first prizes in cello and in piano.
In Paris, he studied the cello initially with Annie Cochet-Zakine, who had heard the talented youngster in Chambéry and brought him with her to the Conservatoire Supérieur de Paris (CNR), where he graduated in 1997 with the first prize in cello.
Following on, he then became a pupil of the distinguished cello pedagogue Philippe Muller at the most prestigious Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris (CNSMP), where he graduated in 2000 with first prizes in cello and chamber music. After that, he finished his studies with Heinrich Schiff at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna.
Between 1997-8, as a student, he was cellist in the European Community Youth Orchestra (now the European Union Youth Orchestra) and also in the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, playing under distinguished conductors including Bernard Haitink, Pierre Boulez and Claudio Abbado.
He now enjoys a flourishing concert career and is in demand internationally as a soloist, playing with many of the world’s leading conductors and orchestras. He also has a passion for chamber music, in which he often partners his brother as well as with many renowned musicians.
He is also an accomplished pianist. He started learning the piano at the age of seven and studied it as his second instrument at the Conservatoire Supérieur de Paris under Christophe Egiziano. He enjoys playing jazz piano for recreational fun.
He married Delphine Borsarello, also a cellist, in September 2007.
Cello
Capuçon’s principal instrument is a 1701 Matteo Goffriller cello which he possesses on loan. He also has a 1746 Joseph Contreras cello on loan to him from BSI (Banca della Svizzera Italiana).