Brandon Acker

Brandon Acker is a classical guitarist and specialist on early plucked instruments such as the Baroque guitar, theorbo, lute, and archlute who plays regularly with Music of the Baroque. Brandon’s performance career has varied from starting out playing electric guitar in metal bands to his current main focus researching and performing on early plucked instruments from the Renaissance and Baroque periods. He has toured extensively through England, Canada, Scotland and Wales, and performed with notable groups such as the Leipzig Baroque Orchestra, Piffaro, the Joffrey Ballet, the Chicago Philharmonic, the Newberry Consort, Haymarket Opera Company, Third Coast Baroque, Opera Lafayette, and Bella Voce. Viva Vivaldi! on October 15 and 16 marks his soloist debut with Music of the Baroque.

Brandon Acker's latest passion has been to run his successful YouTube channel which now has over 400,000 subscribers and 30 million views. His channel provides educational content about historical lutes and guitars, guitar tutorials, and performance videos.

Brandon Acker's interest in education has led him and his wife to found a new online music school for “All things that go pluck,” Arpeggiato.com. Since opening it 2020, in reaction to the Covid pandemic, the online school has taught thousands of lessons on Zoom to students in over a dozen countries. The school has also hosted two online student recitals and raised over $2,000 for music charities.

Brandon Acker's recordings include “A Wanderer’s Guitar,” Schubert lieder arranged for guitar and baritone; “Favorites,” featuring his dearest solo repertoire; and “Strung Up,” minimalist music arranged for harp and guitar.