A leading figure of the viola in France and around the world, Gérard Caussé has developed, alongside a solo career—both in recital and as a concert artist with the greatest conductors and the most prestigious ensembles—a chamber music activity widely acclaimed for the musical generosity of someone who, since Mozart, sees himself as a “bridge” between the low and high voices of the string quartet.

A sought-after partner of the greatest artists—Gidon Kremer (The Seven Last Words of Christ by Haydn), Dmitry Sitkovetsky (world premiere of Sitkovetsky’s transcription of Bach’s Goldberg Variations), Mischa Maisky, Michel Portal, Paul Meyer, François-René Duchâble, Renaud Capuçon, Franck Braley, Nicholas Angelich—Gérard Caussé has influenced several generations of musicians through his unique playing and his charisma, inspiring many to choose the viola as their true calling.

His championing of contemporary repertoires, beginning with the founding of the Ensemble Intercontemporain—where Pierre Boulez appointed him principal violist—has been matched by his innovative teaching work, recognized from the Paris Conservatory to the Escuela Reina Sofía in Madrid, as well as through numerous masterclasses in Verbier, Salzburg, Siena, Villecroze, Lisbon, Havana, and Caracas.

As conductor and musical director of the Toulouse Chamber Orchestra and the Camerata of the Caja Duero Foundation in Salamanca, Gérard Caussé embodies all the dimensions of an extraordinary violist’s life—reflected in a discography of over 60 recordings released by major labels, all acclaimed by both critics and the public. Among them, his recent transcription of Bach’s Cello Suites for viola, interwoven with poems by Rilke read by Laurent Terzieff, on the Erato label.