Hopkinson Smith

Born in New York City, New York on December 7, 1946, Hopkinson Smith is known as one of the greatest lutenists of his generation. He is best known for focusing on Renaissance and Baroque music. Son of writer and photographer G. E. Kidder Smith, Hopkinson Smith learned classical guitar and when he discovered early music, he be refocused his attention on the lute. He graduated from Harvard University with honors in 1972, and then relocated to Europe the following year. After lessons in musicology with Alfred Deller and lute practice with Eugen M. Dombois at the Schola Cantorum in Basel (1973-1975), Hopkinson Smith began a career as a soloist which led him to perform and collaborate with the Jordi Savall's Hespèrion XX ensemble for a decade. He is notably present on several recordings dedicated to pieces for viola da gamba by Marin Marais (1975-1983). Throughout his own albums, Hopkinson Smith spotlighted lesser known and forgotten composers such as Denis Gautier, Louis de Caix d'Hervelois, Ennemond Gaultier, Luys de Navaez, Luys Milan, Albert de Rippe, François Dufaut, Giulio Caccini , Francisco Guerau, Sylvius Leopold Weiss, and Pierre Attaingnant alongside renowned pieces by J.S. Bach, John Dowland, Gaspar Sanz and Francesco da Milano. Among his most critically acclaimed releases include Bach: L'Oeuvre de Luth (1984), Weiss: Pieces de Luth (1990), The 17th Century of Hopkinson Smith (1996), Lautenkonzerte (1999), Bach: Sonatas & Partitas - Suites (2000), Dowland: A Dream (2005) and the English music recital Mad Dog (2017). After several collaborations with Montserrat Figueras, who died in 2011, Smith teamed up with singer Mariana Flores for Dowland: Whose Heavenly Touch (2019). Since 1976, Hopkinson Smith has been teaching lute technique, basso continuo, improvisation and performance at the Schola Cantorum in Basel, Switzerland.