Gérard Caussé is one of today’s leading viola virtuosos. He began his studies in Toulouse before completing his training at the Paris Conservatoire, winning various first prizes as both a soloist and chamber musician.
Gérard Caussé appears in concert worldwide, working with leading orchestras and conductors such as John Eliot Gardiner, Kent Nagano and Marc Minkowski. As a chamber musician, he has performed with numerous ensembles and musicians over the course of his career, including Gidon Kremer, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Mischa Maisky, Michel Portal, Renaud Capuçon, Paul Meyer, François-René Duchâble, Frank Braley and Nicholas Angelich.
He was artistic director of the Orchestre de Chambre National de Toulouse, as well as co-founder and director of the Camerata of the Fundación Caja Duero in Salamanca. He devotes a large part of his time to training young musicians, including giving masterclasses in Verbier, Villecroze, Salzburg, Siena, Caracas and Lisbon.
His repertoire ranges from the Baroque to Mozart, Berlioz, Bruch, Bartók, Stravinsky, Shostakovich, Britten, Walton and Martinů. As a founding member and principal viola of Pierre Boulez’s Ensemble intercontemporain, he is also highly committed to expanding his instrument’s repertoire. Gérard Caussé has given the premieres of a large number of works by composers such as Henri Dutilleux, Philippe Hersant, Michaël Levinas, Pascal Dusapin, Hugues Dufourt, Betsy Jolas, Wolfgang Rihm and Gérard Pesson.
His discography includes more than sixty multiple-award-winning recordings, including Bloch’s works for viola and orchestra with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the viola transcriptions of the Bach Cello suites and the complete chamber music for strings and piano by Fauré with Renaud and Gautier Capuçon, Nicholas Angelich, Michel Dalberto and the Quatuor Ébène.
Gérard Caussé plays a viola by Gasparo da Salò from 1560.
