Hopkinson Smith is one of the world's foremost experts on early plucked instruments, recognized for his knowledge of and performances on the lute, theorbo, vihuela, and predecessors of the guitar. As such, Smith has also taught many of the following generation of lutenists.

As a teenager, Smith played classical guitar, but then discovered the world of early music and began teaching himself to play the lute. He graduated with honors from Harvard in 1972 with a degree in musicology, which has served him well in his research on works written for early plucked instruments. He studied lute with Emilio Pujol in Catalonia and Eugen Dombois in Switzerland, and then worked with viola da gambist Jordi Savall to found the ensemble Hespèrion XX in the mid-1970s. He went on to spend ten years with the group, growing creatively as a chamber musician and finding it a good balance to his solo work. From the mid-1980s, Smith concentrated on his research and performance of solo works for his instruments, ranging from Renaissance dances and fantasias to Baroque composers Kapsberger, the Gaultiers, Mouton, Sanz, and Weiss, to name just a few. His discography includes nearly 40 recordings of these works on the Astrée and Naïve labels, beginning with La Réthorique des Dieux in 1976, featuring suites by Denis Gaultier. He has also recorded his own transcriptions of Bach's solo violin works (2000) to much acclaim, in addition to Bach's lute works. Another award-winning album was 2008's Francesco de Milano.

Smith gives master classes throughout North and South America and Europe and was on the faculty of the Schola Cantorum in Basel, Switzerland, where he makes his home, until his retirement in 2020. Yasunori Imamura and Rolf Lislevand are just two of his many students who have gone on to their own successful careers. Smith's playing is noted frequently by reviewers for its tastefulness and expertise while also being warm and always consciously expressive no matter what type of piece he is playing. He collaborated with vocalist Mariana Flores to record lute songs on 2019's Dowland: Whose Heavenly Touch. Following his retirement from teaching, Smith continues performing and recording, releasing Bright and Early, a program of early 16th century pieces from France and Italy, in 2023. ~ Patsy Morita, Rovi