Born in Chambéry in 1976, Renaud Capuçon started his studies at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris in 1990 with Gérard Poulet and Veda Reynolds where he was awarded first prize for chamber music in 1992 and first prize for violin with a special distinction from the jury in 1993. In 1995 he won the Prize of the Berlin Academy of Arts. Then he studied with Thomas Brandis in Berlin, and later with Isaac Stern. Invited by Claudio Abbado in 1997, he continued his musical experiences as konzertmeister of the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester during three summers with Pierre Boulez, Seiji Ozawa, Daniel Barenboim, Franz Welser-Moest and of course Claudio Abbado. In 2000 he was nominated "Rising Star" and "New talent of the Year" (French Victoires de la Musique), in 2005 "Soliste instrumental de l’année", also by the French Victoires de la Musique, and in 2006 "Prix Georges Enesco" (Sacem).

In November 2002 he made his debuts with the Berlin Philharmonic under Bernard Haitink and in July 2004 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Christoph von Dohnanyi. With the Orchestre de Paris and Christoph Eschenbach he toured in China in November 2004 and Germany in February 2005.

Renaud Capuçon is the soloist of prestigious orchestras: Munich Bayerische Rundfunk Orchester, Berlin Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester, Bamberger Symphoniker, Hessischer Rundfunk, NDR Hamburg and WDR Köln orchestras, Montreal Symphony, Philadelphia Symphony, Houston Symphony, Washington National Symphony Orchestra, Jerusalem Symphony, Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre de Paris, Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, Bordeaux, Lille, Lyon, Monte-Carlo, and Toulouse Orchestras, Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, Moskow Radio Tchaikovsky Orchestra, Danish Royal Orchestra, Swedish Radio Orchestra, Academy of St-Martin-in-the-Fields, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, City of Birmingham Symphony, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Firenze Maggio Musicale Orchestra, Milano Scala Philharmonic, Rome Santa Cecilia Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic, NHK Symphony, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Lausanne and Zurich Chamber Orchestras, under Roberto Abbado, Marc Albrecht, Christian Arming, Myung-Whun Chung, Jean-Claude Casadesus, Thomas Dausgaard, Charles Dutoit, Frans Brüggen, Semyon Bychkov, Christoph Eschenbach, Vladimir Fedosseyev, Ivan Fischer, Hans Graf, Daniel Harding, Gunther Herbig, Armin Jordan, Philippe Jordan, Emmanuel Krivine, Jesus Lopez Cobos, Kurt Masur, Marc Minkowski, John Nelson, David Robertson, Leonard Slatkin, Michael Schonwandt, Leif Segerstram, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Pinchas Steinberg, Hugh Wolff, Tugan Sokhiev…

Renaud Capuçon plays chamber music with Martha Argerich, Daniel Barenboim, Elena Bashkirova, Hélène Grimaud, Yefim Bronfman, Myung-Whun Chung, Stephen Kovacevich, Katia and Marielle Labèque, Mikhail Pletnev, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Vadim Repin, Yuri Bashmet, Truls Mork, Paul Meyer. He is invited by prestigious festivals: London Mostly Mozart, Edinburgh, Berlin, Lockenhaus, Ludwigsburg, Rheingau, Schwarzenberg, Jerusalem, Stavanger, Lucerne, Verbier, Canarias, San Sebastian, Stresa, Brescia-Bergamo, Aix-en-Provence, Roque d’Anthéron, Menton, Saint-Denis, Strasbourg, Tanglewood, Salzburg…

Discography: Schumann Quintet with M.J.Pires, A.Dumay, G.Caussé, J.Wang (DGG), Mendelssohn and Haydn trios and the Triple Concerto by Beethoven with Martha Argerich (Emi). As an exclusive Virgin Classics artist : Schubert recital, Berlioz/Saint-Saëns/Milhaud/Ravel with Daniel Harding and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie, Ravel chamber music with Gautier Capuçon and Frank Braley, duos with his brother; Dutilleux Concerto with the Radio France Philharmonic under Myung-Whun Chung (« Grand Prix Académie Charles Cros », « Choc de la Musique », « Diapason d’Or », « Fonoforum/Sterne des Monates »), Saint-Saëns chamber music, Brahms Trios with Gautier Capuçon and Nicholas Angelich (Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik), Schubert Trout, Mendelssohn/Schumann concertos with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Daniel Harding, Brahms Sonatas for violin with Nicholas Angelich (Gramophone/Editor’s Choice-Scherzo/Excepcional-Diapason d’Or-Choc/Monde de la Musique). Last recording : Brahms Double Concerto with Gautier Capuçon and the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester (Gramophone/Editor’s Choice) and Brahms Quartets with Gautier, Gérard Caussé and Nicholas Angelich.

Renaud Capuçon plays the Guarneri del Gesù "Panette" (1737) that belonged to Isaac Stern, bought for him by the Banca Svizzera Italiana (BSI).