One guitar. Two hands. Many voices.

Bear in Performance

About Bear

Alberto "Bear" Whitmer is a fingerstyle guitarist, educator, and Irish traditional musician based in Metro Detroit. His playing draws you in on several levels at once: the emotion of a melody that stays with you, the craft of a single guitar carrying rhythm, melody, and harmony simultaneously, and a seamless flow across a wide musical range.

Bear's performing spans modern fingerstyle, Irish Traditional Music, folk, blues, and beyond. That breadth reflects two distinct but complementary foundations: fingerstyle guitar performance under John Stropes at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, who created the world's only fingerstyle-specific degree program, and a Master of Arts in Irish Traditional Music from the University of Limerick. That traditional thread finds its fullest expression in his duo Sionainn Laoi with fiddler Hannah Harris.

Bear has been teaching guitar since his teens, and that experience runs deep. His approach to fingerstyle workshops draws on years of study, performance, and a practical understanding of what works for players at every level, from someone picking up a guitar for the first time to an intermediate player ready to build their first full arrangement. He offers private lessons, group workshops, and in 2025 joined the staff of Celtic Week at the Swannanoa Gathering as a guest instructor in Celtic fingerstyle. (Learn more about lessons here.)

Bear has opened for or shared stages with Tony McManus, Stefano Barone, Richard Gilewitz, Robert Jones & Matt Watroba, and Blackthorn. Performance stages have ranged from venues such as MAMA's Coffeehouse and The Ark in Ann Arbor to numerous festivals including Michigan Irish Fest. You can find him regularly at Irish sessions in Plymouth at Sean O'Callaghan's, Ann Arbor at Conor O'Neill's, and Detroit at the Gaelic League.