Born Today! 03.01.2025

Johann Christian Friedrich Schneider (3 January 1786 in Alt-Waltersdorf – 23 November 1853 in Dessau) was a German pianist, composer, organist, and conductor. Schneider studied piano first with his father Johann Gottlob Schneider (senior), and then at the Zittau Gymnasium with Schönfelder and Unger. His first published works were a set of three piano sonatas in 1804. In 1805, he commenced studies at the University of Leipzig. He became an organist at St. Thomas Church, Leipzig in 1812, and was named conductor in Dessau in 1821. It is thought that Schneider premiered Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5 in Leipzig on 28 November 1811. In 1824, he was festival director of the Lower Rhenish Music Festival and his oratorio Die Sündflut was premiered during this event. Schneider composed copiously. Among his works are seven operas, four masses, six oratorios, 25 cantatas, 23 symphonies, seven piano concertos, sonatas for violin, flute, and cello, and a great many shorter instrumental pieces, some of them for piano, some for organ. He also left numerous solo songs and part songs. A projected cycle of four oratorios, Christus das Kind (1829), Christus der Meister (1827), and Christus der Erlöser (1838) were left uncompleted as Schneider did not set the fourth part Christus der Verherrlichte.

Fabio Campana (14 January 1819 – 2 February 1882) was an Italian composer, opera director, conductor, and singing teacher who composed eight operas which premiered between 1838 and 1869. He was born in Livorno, the city where his first two operas premiered, but in the early 1850s he settled in London. There he opened a famous singing school, conducted concerts, and continued his reputation as a prolific and popular composer of art songs and concert arias. His last opera, Esmeralda, premiered in Saint Petersburg in 1869, followed by London performances in 1870 with Adelina Patti in the title role. Campana died in London at the age of 63. Although his operas are no longer performed, his art songs can be heard on several modern recordings.

Jacques-Nicolas (Jaak-Nicolaas) Lemmens (3 January 1823 – 30 January 1881), was an organist, music teacher, and composer for his instrument.

Henri-Joseph Dupont (3 January 1838 – 21 December 1899) was a Belgian violinist, leader, theatre director (manager) and conductor. The pianist Auguste Dupont was his brother.

Richard Franck (3 January 1858 – 22 January 1938) was a German pianist, composer and teacher.

Charles-Gaston Levadé (3 January 1869 – 27 October 1948) was a French composer. A pupil of Jules Massenet, Grand Prix de Rome in 1863, Levadé wrote chamber music, melodies, religious music, drama and opéras comiques. He was very successful in his time.

Daniel Alomía Robles (3 January 1871 – 17 July 1942) was a Peruvian composer and ethnomusicologist. He is best known for composing the song "El Cóndor Pasa" in 1913 as part of a zarzuela — a musical play that alternates between spoken and sung parts — of the same name. This song was based on Andean folk songs and is possibly the best known Peruvian song, partly due to the worldwide success that the melody obtained when it was used by Simon & Garfunkel as their music for "El Cóndor Pasa (If I Could)", although that song has different lyrics.

Raoul Armand Jerzy (von) Koczalski (3 January 1884 – 24 November 1948) was a Polish pianist and composer. He also used the pseudonym Georg Armand(o) Koczalski.

Maurice Jaubert (3 January 1900 – 19 June 1940) was a prolific French composer who scored some of the most important films of the early sound era in France, including Jean Vigo’s Zero for Conduct and L'Atalante, and René Clair’s Quatorze Juillet and Le Dernier Milliardaire. Serving in both world wars, he died in action during World War II at the age of 40.

Børge Rosenbaum (Yiddish: בורגע ראזענבוים; 3 January 1909 – 23 December 2000), known professionally as Victor Borge ( BOR-gə), was a Danish and American actor, comedian, and pianist who achieved great popularity in radio and television in both North America and Europe. His blend of music and comedy earned him the nicknames "The Clown Prince of Denmark," "The Unmelancholy Dane," and "The Great Dane."

Antonio José Estévez Aponte (January 3, 1916 – November 26, 1988), was a Venezuelan musician, composer and conductor who was born in Calabozo and died in Caracas. He founded the Central University of Venezuela's Chorus.

Pierre Dervaux (born 3 January 1917 in Juvisy-sur-Orge, France; died 20 February 1992 in Marseilles, France) was a French operatic conductor, composer, and pedagogue. At the Conservatoire de Paris, he studied counterpoint and harmony with Marcel Samuel-Rousseau and Jean and Noël Gallon, as well as piano with Isidor Philipp, Armand Ferté, and Yves Nat. He also served as principal conductor of the Opéra-Comique (1947–53), and the Opéra de Paris (1956–72). In this capacity he directed the French première of Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites. He was also Vice-President of the Concerts Pasdeloup (1949–55), President and Chief conductor of the Concerts Colonne (1958–92), Musical Director of the Orchestre des Pays de Loire (1971–79) as well as holding similar posts at the Quebec Symphony Orchestra (1968–75), where he collaborated with concertmaster Hidetaro Suzuki, and the Nice Philharmonic (1979–82). He taught at the École Normale de Musique de Paris (1964–86), the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal (1965–72) and was also president of the jury of the international conducting competition in Besançon. Dervaux composed two symphonies, two concertos, a string quartet, a trio and several songs. In addition to the Légion d'honneur, Dervaux also received the Ordre national du Mérite. His recordings include: L'Enfance du Christ (Berlioz) in 1959, Les pêcheurs de perles (Bizet) in 1961, and Istar, Wallenstein and La Forêt enchantée (d'Indy) in 1975.

Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the "fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the Beatles' original albums. Martin's formal musical expertise and interest in novel recording practices facilitated the group's rudimentary musical education and desire for new musical sounds to record. Most of their orchestral and string arrangements were written by Martin, and he played piano or keyboards on a number of their records. Their collaborations resulted in popular, highly acclaimed records with innovative sounds, such as the 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band—the first rock album to win a Grammy Award for Album of the Year. Martin's career spanned more than sixty years in music, film, television and live performance. Before working with the Beatles and other pop musicians, he produced comedy and novelty records in the 1950s and early 1960s as the head of EMI's Parlophone label, working with Peter Sellers, Spike Milligan and Bernard Cribbins, among others. His work with other Liverpool rock groups in the early mid-1960s helped popularize the Merseybeat sound. In 1965, he left EMI and formed his own production company, Associated Independent Recording. AllMusic has described Martin as the "world's most famous record producer". In his career, Martin produced 30 number-one hit singles in the United Kingdom and 23 number-one hits in the United States, and won six Grammy Awards. He also held a number of senior-executive positions at media companies and contributed to a wide range of charitable causes, including The Prince's Trust and the Caribbean island of Montserrat. In recognition of his services to the music industry and popular culture, he was made a Knight Bachelor in 1996.

Ernst Mahle (born 3 January 1929) is a Brazilian composer and orchestra conductor of German birth.

Zygmunt Konieczny (born 3 January 1937) is a Polish composer of theatre and film music. Konieczny spent his childhood in the village of Szczyrzyc. He debuted in the 1950s in the cabaret Piwnica pod Baranami in Kraków. Since then Konieczny composed many pieces for film, theater performances and singers. He won the 2003 Georges Delerue Award for his score of the film Pornografia.

Heinz Karl "Nali" Gruber (born 3 January 1943), who styles himself HK Gruber professionally, is an Austrian composer, conductor, double bass player and singer. He is a leading figure of the so-called Third Viennese School.

Olivier Greif (3 January 1950, Paris – 13 May 2000, Paris) was a French composer of Polish-Jewish parentage. His father was an Auschwitz survivor, which led Greif to compose a number of Holocaust-themed works, including Todesfuge and Lettres de Westerbork, a song cycle which uses letters written by Etty Hillesum. From 1976 onward he followed the spiritual path of Hindu teacher Sri Chinmoy. Greif began composing at the age of 9 and studied at the Paris Conservatoire and the Juilliard School. He is best known for his solo piano music and songs for voice. He left over 360 works completed at his death, along with several still in progress. His career was spent teaching composition and directing music festivals such as the Académie-Festival des Arcs.

Eef van Breen (born 3 January 1978) is a Dutch jazz trumpeter, singer, arranger and composer. Eef van Breen was born in Westerbork in the Dutch province of Drenthe. In 2010, van Breen wrote the music for ʼuʼ, the first opera in the Klingon language. His debut album Playing Games (2010, Challenge Jazz) obtained an Edison nomination.