Robert Barto, born in San Diego in the 1950s, is an American lutenist specializing in Baroque and Empfindsamkeit music. He graduated from the University of California, San Diego, and received a Fulbright scholarship to study in Cologne, Germany, and at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Switzerland. In 1984, Barto won top honors at the International Lute Competition in Toronto and the Musica Antiqua Bruges competition in Belgium. He performed extensively, including solo recitals at the Festival of Flanders, London's Purcell Room, and New York City's Music Before 1800. Notable performances include a tribute to Sylvius Leopold Weiss in Dresden in 2000. Barto recorded eleven volumes of lute sonatas by Sylvius Leopold Weiss for the Naxos and Symphonia labels, and taught master classes internationally.
