Evgeny Vladimirov (Russian: Евгений Владимиров; born 20 January 1957) is a chess Grandmaster from Kazakhstan. Vladimirov took on the computer program Hydra in August 2004 and lost three games and drew one.

He acted as one of Garry Kasparov's seconds in his 1986 World Championship match against Anatoly Karpov. In 2004 he was awarded the title of FIDE Senior Trainer.

Tony Kofi is a British Jazz multi-instrumentalist, a player of the alto saxophone, baritone saxophone, soprano saxophone and flute. He currently leads his own Tony Kofi Quartet, Tony Kofi Trio, and is also the co-founder of the Monk Liberation Band—a group which plays the music of Thelonious Monk. His trio consists of himself, drummer Winston Clifford, and Hammond B3 organist Anders Olinder. John L. Walters wrote for The Guardian that, "...Kofi's musicians make a fiery, multi-layered noise, but they know when to bring it down to a whisper, such is the ingenuity of their arrangements." Kofi is signed to the Specific Jazz label, which showcases much of Britain's up-and-coming new talent.

Tony Kofi Quartet - The Silent Truth (2008, Specific Jazz)

Mikhail Tal (Latvian: Mihails Tāls; Russian: Михаил Нехемьевич Таль, Michail Nechem'evič Tal, [mʲixʌˈiɫ nʲɪˈxɛmʲɪvʲit͡ɕ ˈtal]; sometimes transliterated Mihails Tals or Mihail Tal; November 9, 1936 – June 28, 1992) was a Soviet-Latvian chess Grandmaster and the eighth World Chess Champion.

Widely regarded as a creative genius, and the best attacking player of all time, he played in a daring, combinational style. His play was known above all for improvisation and unpredictability. Every game, he once said, was as inimitable and invaluable as a poem. He was often called "Misha", a diminutive for Mikhail, and "The magician from Riga". Both The Mammoth Book of the World's Greatest Chess Games (Burgess, Nunn & Emms 2004) and Modern Chess Brilliancies (Evans 1970) include more games by Tal than any other player. Tal was also a highly-regarded chess writer.

He holds the records for both the first and second longest unbeaten streaks in competitive chess history. Many authorities consider him to have been the greatest attacking Grandmaster in the history of chess. On May 28, 1992, dying from kidney failure, he left hospital to play at the Moscow blitz tournament, where he defeated Garry Kasparov. He died one month later. The Mikhail Tal Memorial is held in Moscow each year since 2006 to honour his memory.

Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich Russian pronunciation: [ˈdmʲitrʲɪj ˈdmʲitrʲɪɪvʲɪt͡ɕ ʂəstɐˈkovʲɪt͡ɕ] (Russian: Дмитрий Дмитриевич Шостакович; 25 September 1906 – 9 August 1975) was a Soviet Russian composer and pianist and was one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century.

Shostakovich achieved fame in the Soviet Union under the patronage of Leon Trotsky's chief of staff Mikhail Tukhachevsky, but later had a complex and difficult relationship with the government. Nevertheless, he received accolades and state awards and served in the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR (1947–1962) and the USSR (from 1962 until death).

After a period influenced by Sergei Prokofiev and Igor Stravinsky, Shostakovich developed a hybrid style, as exemplified by Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District (1934). This single work juxtaposed a wide variety of trends, including the neo-classical style (showing the influence of Stravinsky) and post-Romanticism (after Gustav Mahler). Sharp contrasts and elements of the grotesque characterize much of his music.

Sainkho Namtchylak (born 1957) is a singer originally from Tuva, a small autonomous republic in the Russian Federation just north of Mongolia. She is known for her Tuvan throat singing or Khöömei.

Sainkho Namtchylak is an experimental singer, born in 1957 in a secluded village in the south of Tuva. She has an exceptional voice, proficient in overtone singing; her music encompasses avant-jazz, electronica, modern composition and Tuvan influences. In Tuva, numerous cultural influences collide: the Turkic roots it shares with Mongolia, Xinjiang Uighur and the Central Asian states; various Siberian nomadic ethnic groups, principally those of the Tungus-Manchu group; Russian Old Believers; migrant and resettled populations from the Ukraine, Tatarstan and other minority groups west of the Urals. All of these, to extents, impact on Sainkho's voice, although the Siberian influences dominate: her thesis produced while studying voice, first at the University of Kyzyl, then in the Gnesins Institute in Moscow during the 1980s focussed on Lamaistic and cult musics of minority groups across Siberia, and her music frequently shows tendencies towards Tungus-style imitative singing.