Born Today! 24.05.2024

Francesco Rasi (14 May 1574 – 30 November 1621) was an Italian composer, singer (tenor), chitarrone player, and poet. Rasi was born in Arezzo. He studied at the University of Pisa and in 1594 he was studying with Giulio Caccini. He may have been in Carlo Gesualdo's retinue when he went to Ferrara for his wedding in 1594. In 1598 he joined the court of Duke Vincent I in Mantua, and probably served the Gonzaga family the rest of his life, with whom he travelled all over Italy and as far afield as Poland. He sang in the first performances of Jacopo Peri's Euridice and Caccini's Il rapimento di Cefalo in 1600. In 1607 he created the title role in Claudio Monteverdi's Orfeo, and in 1608 sang in the first performances of Marco da Gagliano's La Dafne. In 1610 in Tuscany Rasi and his accomplices were sentenced to be hanged, drawn, and quartered for the murder of his stepmother's servant and the attempted murder of his stepmother; however because of the protection of the Gonzaga family he escaped, and his sentence was eventually annulled with the agreement that he never return to Arezzo, his birthplace. He wrote an opera, Cibele, ed Ati, which seems not to have been performed and whose music does not survive, and another libretto, Elvidia rapita. He published poetry, including in the anthology La cetra di sette corde, and a good deal of monody which survives in the anthologies Vaghezze di musica (1608) and Madrigali (1610). Almost all of these are written for tenor voice, suggesting that they were written to display Rasi's own skill as a singer, and they follow in the style of Caccini's compositions. Rasi was a well-respected singer, whose skill in ornamentation and diminution, beautiful voice, and ability to sing with grace and feeling, led to him being involved in the first performances of many of the first operas.

Pavlos Carrer (also Paolo Carrer; Greek: Παύλος Καρρέρ; 12 May 1829 – 7 June 1896) was a Greek composer, one of the leaders of the Ionian art music school and the first to create national operas and national songs on Greek plots, Greek librettos and verses, as well as melodies inspired by the folk and the urban popular musical tradition of modern Greece.

Richard Hoffman (24 May 1831 – 17 August 1909) was an English-born American pianist and composer.

Kyrylo Hryhorovych Stetsenko (Ukrainian: Кирило Григорович Стеценко; May 12, 1882 – April 29, 1922) was a prolific Ukrainian composer, conductor, critic, and teacher. Late in his life he became a Ukrainian Orthodox Priest and head of the Music section of the Ministry of Education of the short-lived Ukrainian People's Republic.

Paul Marie-Adolphe Charles Paray (French: [pɔl paʁɛ]) (24 May 1886 – 10 October 1979) was a French conductor, organist and composer. He was the resident conductor of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra from 1952 until 1963.

Johan Hye-Knudsen (24 May 1896 in Nyborg – 28 September 1975) was a Danish conductor.

Nils-Eric Fougstedt (24 May 1910, in Raisio – 12 April 1961, in Helsinki) was a Finnish conductor and composer. He attended the Helsinki Conservatory and counted Erik Furuhjelm among his teachers. Fougstedt joined the staff of the Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) in 1938, where he founded the organisation's Soloist Choir, which later became the Radio Choir. In 1944, he became the conductor of YLE's Radio Orchestra, and was elevated to Chief Conductor in 1950. He served in the post until his death in 1961. Fougstedt taught music theory and choral conducting at the Sibelius Academy. He also was a member of the Swedish Royal Music Academy and received the honorary title of Professor in 1960. His compositions included Angoscia (1954), the first Finnish dodecaphonic orchestral work, Trittico sinfonico (1958), and Aurea dicta (1959). He is buried in the Hietaniemi Cemetery in Helsinki.

Marģeris Zariņš (24 May 1910, Jaunpiebalga – 27 February 1993, Riga) was a Latvian composer and writer. He was an author of symphonic and vocal symphonic music, choir music, vocal chamber music, cantatas, oratories and operas; contemporary picaresque novels and short stories. He is considered to be the first representative of the Postmodern style in Latvian literature.

Sadao Bekku (別宮貞雄, Bekku Sadao, May 24, 1922 in Tokyo – January 12, 2012 in Mitaka, Tokyo) was a Japanese classical composer. His works include five symphonies, film scores, a flute sonata, a piano concerto, choral work and art songs, and the opera, Prince Arima. His work took strong influence from jazz. His best-known works include the film score Matango (1963).

Deirdre Gribbin (born 14 May 1967) is a composer from Northern Ireland.