Most classical guitarists spend their lives deepening their command of a single instrument. Brandon Acker went the other way — backwards in time, and outward across a whole family of strings. Today he is one of the most recognisable advocates for the classical guitar and its older relatives, the lute, the baroque guitar and the theorbo, and he has done as much as almost anyone alive to introduce a broad public to the sound of early plucked instruments.
From metal to the masters
Acker's path to early music was anything but predictable. He started out playing electric guitar in metal bands, and his conversion came almost by accident, as an undergraduate, when he heard a recording of the countertenor Alfred Deller singing Purcell's "Music for a While." The beauty of that baroque sound-world caught him completely. He went on to take two degrees in classical guitar performance at DePaul and Northwestern Universities, both in Chicago, the city that would become the centre of his musical life.
A specialist is born
After moving to Chicago in 2008, Acker noticed how few players were devoting themselves to the early plucked repertoire, and from around 2014 he committed himself fully to it. He became, in effect, the musician filling a gap he had spotted. His name is now woven into Chicago's early-music scene, and he has performed with leading period ensembles and orchestras — among them the Newberry Consort, Haymarket Opera Company, Third Coast Baroque, the Chicago Philharmonic, the Joffrey Ballet and Opera Lafayette — as well as touring widely through Britain and Canada.
The world's teacher of "all things that go pluck"
What makes Acker unusual among specialists is his reach. His YouTube channel, with hundreds of thousands of subscribers and tens of millions of views, has become a genuine gateway for curious listeners: clear, friendly, expertly played introductions to the theorbo, the lute, the baroque guitar and the classical guitar. In 2020 he and his wife founded an online music school devoted, as they put it, to "all things that go pluck," gathering a faculty of teachers who have given thousands of lessons to students in dozens of countries. He has, in other words, turned a niche passion into a thriving community.
Why he matters
Acker's importance lies in connection — between the modern classical guitar and its Renaissance and baroque ancestors, and between the rarefied world of historical performance and a vast general audience. He shows, again and again, that these old instruments are not relics but living voices, and that the curiosity to explore them is open to anyone.
FAQ
What instruments does Brandon Acker play?
Classical guitar and early plucked instruments — the lute, baroque guitar and theorbo above all.
Where is he based?
In Chicago, where he studied at DePaul and Northwestern and became central to the city's early-music scene.
How did he become widely known?
Through his hugely popular YouTube channel and an online school dedicated to plucked-string instruments.
