Born Today! 26.07.2025

Lorenz Christoph Mizler von Kolof (also known as Wawrzyniec Mitzler de Kolof and Mitzler de Koloff; 26 July 1711 – 8 May 1778) was a German physician, historian, printer, mathematician, Baroque music composer, and precursor of the Enlightenment in Poland.

John Field (26 July 1782, Dublin – 23 January 1837, Moscow) was an Irish pianist, composer and teacher widely credited as the creator of the nocturne. While other composers were writing in a similar style at this time, Field was the first to use the term 'Nocturne' specifically to apply to a character piece featuring a cantabile melody over an arpeggiated accompaniment. He was born into a musical family, in Dublin, and received his early education there, in particular with the Italian composer Tommaso Giordani. The family moved to London in 1793, where Field studied under Muzio Clementi, and under whose tutelage Field soon became a famous and sought-after concert pianist. Together, master and pupil visited Paris, Vienna, and St. Petersburg. Ambiguity surrounds Field's decision to remain in the former Russian capital (Saint Petersburg), but it is likely that Field acted as a sales representative for the Clementi Pianos. Field was very highly regarded by his contemporaries and his playing and compositions influenced many major composers, including Felix Mendelssohn, Frédéric Chopin, Johannes Brahms, Robert Schumann, and Franz Liszt. Although little is known of Field's time in Russia, he undoubtedly contributed substantially to concerts and teaching, and to the development of the Russian piano school. Notable students include Prussian pianist and composer Charles Mayer, the Russian composer Alexandre Dubuque, and Polish pianist and composer Antoine de Kontski.

Jacopo Foroni (Verona, 26 July 1825 — Stockholm, 8 September 1858) was an Italian opera composer and conductor who spent most of his working life in Sweden. Foroni was born in Valeggio sul Mincio, near Verona, the son of the composer and conductor Domenico Foroni. After studies with his father and Alberto Mazzucato in Milan, Foroni became involved in the Five Days of Milan revolt against the Austrians in March 1848. With the failure of that movement, along with many others, he left Italy and worked as a conductor in France, Belgium and Holland with Italian touring opera companies before arriving in Sweden in 1849 to work for Vincenzo Galli's opera company at the Mindre teatern. There, he gave the Swedish premieres of works by Bellini and Donizetti as well as the young Verdi. He conducted the first music by Wagner to be heard in Sweden, the Tannhäuser overture, in 1856. He died during a cholera epidemic in 1858.

Serge Koussevitzky (born Sergey Aleksandrovich Kusevitsky; Russian: Сергей Александрович Кусевицкий, IPA: [sʲɪrˈɡʲej ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvʲɪtɕ kʊsʲɪˈvʲitskʲɪj]; 26 July [O.S. 14 July] 1874 – 4 June 1951) was a Russian and American conductor, composer, and double-bassist, known for his long tenure as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1924 to 1949.

Ernest Henry Schelling (July 26, 1876 – December 8, 1939) was an American pianist, composer, and conductor, and music director. He was the conductor of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra from 1935 to 1937.

Andrzej Koszewski (Poznań, 26 July 1922 – 17 February 2015) was a Polish composer, musicologist and teacher. His students included Lidia Zielińska, Krzesimir Dębski and Bettina Skrzypczak.

Tadeusz Baird (26 July 1928 – 2 September 1981) was a Polish composer.

Kevin Volans (born 26 July 1949) is a South African-born Irish composer and pianist. He studied with Karlheinz Stockhausen and Mauricio Kagel in Cologne in the 1970s and later became associated with the Neue Einfachheit (New Simplicity) movement in the city. In the late 1970s he became interested in the indigenous music of his homeland and began a series of pieces which attempted to combine aspects of African and contemporary European music. Although Volans later moved away from any direct engagement with African music, certain residual elements such as interlocking rhythms, repetition and open forms are still detectable in his music since the early 1990s which have taken a new direction more redolent of certain schools of abstract art. He settled in Ireland permanently in 1986 and was granted Irish citizenship in 1994.

Michael F. Williams (born 1962, New Zealand) is a composer of contemporary classical music. He has received commissions from many of New Zealand's major musical institutions such as the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, NBR New Zealand Opera and Chamber Music New Zealand and his work is regularly broadcast on Radio New Zealand Concert. A lecturer in composition at the University of Waikato, Williams has received recognition in the NZSO-SOUNZ Readings on three occasions and in the SOUNZ Contemporary Award in 2012 for his multimedia World War II opera, The Juniper Passion.