Violinist Renaud Capuçon Carries Olympic Torch

Capuçon was one of 90 torch-bearers on the leg between Thouars and Niort

The Olympic Torch is presently on its way from Greece to France, ahead of the opening of the games in late July. French violinist Renaud Capuçon was one of the 90 torch-bearers who brought the flame through the idyllic countryside leg between Thouars and Niort.

The other torch-bearers on the leg were Clément Garreau, French judo champion; Thomas Courjault, captain of his Regional level 1 football team; and Stéphanie Rose, who uses sport to help combat rheumatoid arthritis. There were also several celebrities, including Sébastien Bichon, who won a cycling medal at the Sydney Paralympic Games and is now taking on a whole host of sporting challenges, and Fabrice Chagnon, French and European land sailing champion.

A top-level soloist, Capuçon has made solo appearances with the Berliner Philharmoniker, Boston Symphony, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Filarmonica della Scala, London Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre National de France, and Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France.

He also leads three festivals: the Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad since 2016, the Easter Festival in Aix-en-Provence, which he founded in 2013, and, most recently, the Rencontres Musicales Festival in Evian from 2023. Since 2021, he has also been the Artistic Director of the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne.