The word classical has several meanings. In general, these meanings refer to some past time, works of that era or later works influenced by that time. Classical things are often seen as ordered and part of high culture or a golden age, and contrasted to earlier or later things which may be seen as chaotic, elaborate or emotional.

The word classical comes from the Latin word classicus, which is similar in meaning to the English phrase first class. The word seldom has this precise meaning in modern English, as illustrated by the examples below.

Classical antiquity is a long period of history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. This period is conventionally taken to stretch from roughly the 7th or 8th century BC to the 5th century AD. It is often seen as a golden age of Western civilisation, preceding the Dark Ages of the early medieval period.

The word classical can refer to something from classical antiquity. For example:

Lindsey Stirling (born on September 21, 1986) is an American violinist, musician, dancer, performance artist, and composer. In 2010 she competed on the fifth season of America's Got Talent. Stirling is noted for her versatility performing music from country to hip hop.

At the age of 23 Stirling was a quarter-finalist on the fifth season of America's Got Talent where she was known as the ‘Hip Hop Violinist’. After Stirling's performance, Sharon Osbourne said, "Wow... we love you Lindsey!” and Piers Morgan called her performance "Electrifying!".

At the age of 5, after being influenced by the classic music records played by her father, Stirling requested the opportunity to learn and play the violin.

Stirling was classically trained through private lessons for 12 years. When she was 16, she joined a rock band with four friends called Stomp on Melvin. As part of her experience with Stomp on Melvin, Stirling wrote a solo violin rock song, and her performance helped her to win both the title of Arizona’s Jr. Miss in 2005 and the talent category of the National Jr. Miss Pageant. As of May 2, 2012, Stirling is 5'3" tall.

Rose Jang is an acclaimed Korean-American pop opera artist who is well known for singing operatic arias, musical and classic pop songs. She is the first Korean to release an album comprising operatic arias as well as hit musical songs. Her album is distributed by Mnet. Jang is PR ambassador for many organizations including the Korean Tourism Office and UNESCO of Korea. She recently became PR ambassador for the National Committee for Jeju-do Island New7Wonders of Nature. She performed with the Rose Pops Orchestra at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts Alice Tully Hall on November 9, 2011 to promote Jeju Island as one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature. with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak's blessing for a great show. She currently records in New York City, Seoul, and London.

Jang has been hailed as a heroine for Korean-Americans. Jang has been credited for one the reasons why Jeju Island was voted to be a New 7 Wonder of Nature. She promoted Jeju Island heavily as she campaigned the New 7 Wonders of Nature with her Lincoln Center concert. The concert was promoted heavily on Yahoo, CBSMarketwatch and in the New York Daily News.

Bryce Dessner (born April 23, 1976) is a Brooklyn based composer, guitarist, and curator primarily known as a member of The National. In addition to his work with The National, he is a founding member of Clogs, and the founder of the MusicNOW Festival. Bryce has a master's degree in classical guitar from Yale University. He is the twin brother of Aaron Dessner.

Aaron and Bryce write and play guitar for The National. The brothers both graduated from Cincinnati Country Day School in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1994. The brothers are co-founders, alongside Alec Hanley Bemis, of Brassland Records, a label that has released early albums from The National, the Clogs catalog and releases by Doveman and Nico Muhly.

The two Dessners also write, produce, and perform contemporary music internationally in collaboration with many artists. In August, 2008, Aaron and Bryce performed a collaborative concert with David Cossin, and Luca Tarantino as a part of Soundres, an international residency program for contemporary music and art in Salento, Italy and at the Guitare Au Palais Festival Perpignan France. They also performed at Matthew Ritchie's Ghost Operator opening at the White Cube Gallery in London.

Miloš Karadaglić is a classical guitarist from Montenegro. Miloš won a scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Music. He released his first album Mediterráneo in 2011 with the Deutsche Grammophon label. In that same year, he received the Gramophone Award for Young Artist of the Year. He will release his next album Latino on 11 June 2012.

Miloš Karadaglić was born in Montenegro in 1983 to a family of music lovers. He started to learn to play the guitar at the age of 8. By the time he was 14, he had started to play in major concert halls.