Orlando Lutes: Home

Welcome to Orlando Lutes

Luke Emmet of Orlando Lutes specialises in high quality, hand made lutes, as well as lute refurbishment and setup and repairs. As an active player as well as maker, I have a passion for making the best sounding renaissance lutes - and I focus on sound quality and playability, first and foremost. Each lute is hand made and individually voiced.

"... I was delighted and impressed by how good this instrument is in every respect: the warm, full sound is well balanced across the registers, the projection is powerful, the instrument is very comfortable to play, and the craftsmanship is remarkable. Luke is clearly at the forefront of the younger generation of lute makers, and I can recommend his instruments without a reservation." - see more reviews

Prices start from £2200

News

• Jul 2022 - An interview by the Gallery Of Guitar channel with Eric Thomas, with a follow up performance of Dalza's Calata ala spagnola ditto terzetti, playing one of my 6c lutes.
• Mar 2022 - LuteFest 2022 was held at Benslow this year - a welcome relief after many months of lockdown last year. I was also in attendance as "Lute Doctor in residence", to provide refrets and minor adjustments.
• Feb 2022 - Dowland Youth Works - a musical program to coach, develop and inspire talented young singers in early music - gave a fine concert in Peterborough, showing that the future of early modern song is on a secure footing. As an example, in this performance of John Danyel's "He whose desires", young countertenor Sebastian Carrington is accompanied by Sam Brown on a 7c lute made by me, recently fresh from the workbench.
• Jan 2022 - Alex McCartney has released his January Lute Challenge where he walks through a piece a day with sheet music, video tips and guidance on how to get the best from each selected piece. All these are played on a 6c lute by me, so you can enjoy his videos to get a good idea what these lutes sound like in the hands of an expert!
• Apr 2020 - Eric Thomas has a Youtube channel where is is uploading a number of videos, including Milano, Spinacino, Da Ripa and more, all played on a 6c lute by me.
• May 2019 - Palladin - another wonderful new recording by Alex McCartney, playing his 6c lute I made for him:

Previous news items can be seen in old news.

Recent Work and Reviews

Examples of recent work can be seen in the photo gallery, and some customers reviews.

Prices

See renaissance lutes for details of our instruments.