Born Today! 31.03.2025

Francesco Durante (31 March 1684 – 30 September 1755) was an Italian composer of the Neapolitan School. Best known for his church music, he was also an important teacher, instructing Niccolò Jommelli, Giovanni Paisiello, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Niccolò Piccinni and Leonardo Vinci, among others.

Franz Joseph Haydn ( HY-dən; German: [ˈfʁants ˈjoːzɛf ˈhaɪdn̩] ; 31 March 1732 – 31 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions to musical form have led him to be called "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String quartet". Haydn arose from humble origins, the child of working people in a rural village. He established his career first by serving as a chorister at St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna, then through an arduous period as a freelance musician. Eventually he found career success, spending much of his working life as music director for the wealthy Esterházy family at their palace of Eszterháza in rural Hungary. Though he had his own orchestra there, it isolated him from other composers and trends in music so that he was, as he put it, "forced to become original". During this period his music circulated widely in publication, eventually making him the most celebrated composer in Europe. With the death of his primary patron Nikolaus Esterházy in 1790, Haydn was free to travel, and augmented his fame—now as a performer before the public—in both London and Vienna. The last years of his life (1803–1809) were spent in a state of debility, unable to compose due to poor health. He died in Vienna in 1809 at the age of 77. Haydn was a friend and mentor of Mozart, a teacher of Beethoven, and the elder brother of composer Michael Haydn.

Johann Abraham Peter Schulz (31 March 1747 – 10 June 1800) was a German musician. He is best known as the composer of the melody for Matthias Claudius's poems "Der Mond ist aufgegangen" and "Wir pflügen und wir streuen", and the Christmas carol "Ihr Kinderlein kommet".

Franciszek (also spelled Franz) Wincenty Mirecki (1791–1862) was a Polish composer, music conductor, and music teacher. Mirecki was born on 31 March 1791 in Kraków. His maternal grandfather was Dominik Goronczkiewicz, a known organist. Mirecki played the piano at the age of four, and gave his first concerto in 1800, meanwhile continuing his studies in Kraków. In 1814 he went to Vienna where he took lessons in composition from Hummel. In 1816 Mirecki went to Venice, where he stayed during the years 1816 and 1817. From there, he went to Milan with recommendations to Ricordi, where he became acquainted with several Italian musical notabilities, including Rolla, Pollini, Pacini and Pavesi. Towards the end of 1817, he set out for Paris with recommendations from Ricordi. In 1822, he returned to Milan. Later he took over the direction of the San Carlo Theater in Lisbon, where he performed a new opera in March 1826. Later he made a trip to England, and returned from there via Paris to Genoa. In 1838, he was called to take over the direction of the new dramatic singing school established in his native city of Kraków, a position he held until his death. Mirecki died on 29 May 1862 in Kraków. He left behind two sons: Stanislaus, who dedicated himself to the art of his father; and Kasimir, who dedicated himself to painting.

Henri Marteau (31 March 1874 – 3 October 1934) was a French violinist and composer.

Knud Harder (31 March 1885 – 1967) was a Danish composer, organist and conductor.

José María Usandizaga (31 March 1887–5 October 1915) was a Spanish Basque composer. A native of San Sebastián, Usandizaga began his musical studies in his hometown before moving to the Schola Cantorum in Paris. There, he was a composition pupil of Vincent d'Indy, and he took piano lessons from Gabriel Grovlez. From 1906 he was back in Spain, where he won success with his works for the stage and a number of other pieces. Usandizaga succumbed to tuberculosis in 1915. Most of Usandizaga's music is based on Basque themes; among his works are several chamber pieces, some rhapsodies, and the operas Mendi Mendiyan ("High in the Mountains", a Basque language opera) and Las golondrinas (The Swallows), initially a zarzuela which was arranged as an opera after the composer's death by his brother Ramón and premiered in 1929 at the Liceu in Barcelona. A third opera, the lyric drama La llama ("The Flame"), was left incomplete after his death; this, too was completed by his brother Ramón and premiered in 1918 in San Sebastián.

Clemens Heinrich Krauss (31 March 1893 – 16 May 1954) was an Austrian conductor and opera impresario, particularly associated with the music of Richard Strauss, Johann Strauss and Richard Wagner. He founded the New Year's Concert of the Vienna Philharmonic and conducted it until 1954.

Kanichi Shimofusa (Japanese: 下総皖一; March 31, 1898 - July 8, 1962) was a Japanese composer. Kanichi Shimofusa was born in Sunahara, Haramichi-mura, Saitama (now Ōtone, Saitama). He studied composition with Kiyoshi Nobutoki at Tokyo Music School (now Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, also called Geidai), where he graduated first on the list in 1920. Later, he studied with Paul Hindemith at Berlin University of the Arts in Germany, making him the forerunner of Brahms-Hindemith-descended German style at Tokyo Music School. His notable students at Tokyo Music School include Ikuma Dan, Makoto Sato, Yasushi Akutagawa, Mareo Ishiketa, Yuzo Toyama and Taminosuke Matsumoto; his private students included Kunio Suda. Kanichi Shimofusa composed numerous nursery rhymes and government-approved music for music textbooks. He also composed a number of school songs for elementary, junior high, and high schools. The total number of his composition went over 1,000. His music style was unostentatious and steady. He became an associate professor at Tokyo Music School in 1934. He became a member of the textbook editorial committee of the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture in 1940. He became a professor at Tokyo Music School in 1942 and the dean of the Department of Music at Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music in 1956.

Jake Heggie (born March 31, 1961) is an American composer of opera, vocal, orchestral, and chamber music. He is best known for his operas and art songs as well as for his collaborations with internationally renowned performers and writers.