Manfred Honeck
Conductor

Gautier Capuçon
Cello

Gautier Capuçon is a true 21st century ambassador for the cello. Performing internationally with many of the world’s foremost conductors and instrumentalists, he is also founder and leader of the ‘Classe d’Excellence de Violoncelle’ at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris and a passionate ambassador for the Orchestre à l’École Association, which brings classical music to more than 40,000 thousands school children across France. A multiple award winner, he is acclaimed for his expressive musicianship, exuberant virtuosity, and for the deep sonority of his 1701 Matteo Goffriller cello “L’Ambassadeur”.

In summer 2020, mid-pandemic, Capuçon brought music directly into the lives of families across the length and breadth of France during his musical odyssey, ‘Un été en France’. He made a new edition of this project in summer 2021, taking 27 students along with him on the road for 19 concerts in a variety of towns and cities, showcasing both young musicians and young dancers within his concert presentations.

Committed to exploring and expanding the cello repertoire, Capuçon performs an extensive array of works each season and regularly premieres new commissions. His current projects include collaborations with Lera Auerbach, Richard Dubugnon, Danny Elfman and Thierry Escaich.

In the 2021/22 season Capuçon appears with, amongst others, the philharmonic orchestras of Vienna/Alain Altinoglu, Munich/Giedr? Šlekyt? and New York/Yu Long; the Concertgebouworkest/Myung-whun Chung, Cleveland Orchestra/Michael Tilson Thomas and Mariinsky/Valerie Gergiev. He is Artist-in-Residence at the Paris Philharmonie as well as the Wiener Konzerthaus. In addition, Capuçon plays at festivals worldwide, including the Enescu, Rostropovich, Prague Spring, St. Denis and Evian festivals.

As a chamber musician, he performs on tour with Jean-Yves Thibaudet and Lisa Batiashvili in venues such as Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Tonhalle Zürich, Philharmonie Berlin, Herkulessaal der Residenz Munich and Philharmonie Paris. He also appears with Frank Braley, Jérôme Ducros, Nikolai Lugansky and Yuja Wang. Other regular recital partners include Nicholas Angelich, Martha Argerich, Daniel Barenboim, Renaud Capuçon, Leonidas Kavakos, Andreas Ottensamer, Daniil Trifonov, the Labèque sisters and the Artemis, Ébène and Hagen quartets. Throughout 2021/22, he performs solo recitals to celebrate his 40th birthday season.

Recording exclusively for Erato (Warner Classics), Capuçon has won multiple awards and holds an extensive discography. His latest album Emotions (released in November 2020) shares music from composers such as Debussy, Schubert and Elgar and has since reached gold status in France, remaining at Number 1 in the charts for over 30 weeks and selling more than 50,000 copies. Earlier recordings include concertos by Shostakovich (The Mariinsky Orchestra/Valery Gergiev) and Saint-Saëns (Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France/Lionel Bringuier); the complete Beethoven Sonatas with Frank Braley; Schubert’s String Quintet with the Ébène Quartet; Intuition with Orchestre de Chambre de Paris/Douglas Boyd and Jérôme Ducros; an album of Schumann works, recorded live with Martha Argerich, Renaud Capuçon and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe/Bernard Haitink; Beethoven Piano Trios with Renaud Capuçon and Frank Braley; Chopin and Franck sonatas with Yuja Wang; and most recently a solo album featuring Bach, Dutilleux and Kodaly as well as a “Best of” recording on occasion of his 40th birthday.

Capuçon has been featured on DVD in live performances with the Berliner Philharmoniker/Gustavo Dudamel (Haydn Cello Concerto No.1) and with Lisa Batiashvili, Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden and Christian Thielemann (Brahms’s Concerto for Violin and Cello). A household name in his native France, he also appears on screen and online in shows such as Prodiges, Now Hear This, and The Artist Academy, and is a guest presenter on Radio Classique in the show Les Carnets de Gautier Capuçon.

Born in Chambéry, Capuçon began playing the cello at the age of five. He studied at the Conservatoire National Supérieur in Paris with Philippe Muller and Annie Cochet-Zakine, and later with Heinrich Schiff in Vienna. Now, he performs with world leading orchestras, works with conductors such as Lionel Bringuier, Semyon Bychkov, Gustavo Dudamel, Charles Dutoit, Christoph Eschenbach, Andrés Orozco-Estrada, and Yannick Nézet-Séguin; and collaborates with contemporary composers including Lera Auerbach, Karol Beffa, Esteban Benzecry, Nicola Campogrande, Qigang Chen, Bryce Dessner, Jérôme Ducros, Henry Dutilleux, Thierry Escaich, Philippe Manoury, Bruno Mantovani, Krzysztof Penderecki, Wolfgang Rihm, and Jörg Widmann.

Pan-Caucasian Youth Orchestra