Hans Memling (also spelled Memlinc; c. 1430 – 11 August 1494) was a German-born painter who moved to Flanders and worked in the tradition of Early Netherlandish painting. From the 1460s until the end of his life he became one of the leading artists, painting both portraits and several large religious works, continuing the style he learned in his youth from his masters such as Rogier van der Weyden.

Born in Seligenstadt, near Frankfurt in the Middle Rhein region, it is believed that Memling served his apprenticeship at Mainz or Cologne, and later worked in the Netherlands under Rogier van der Weyden (c. 1455–1460). He then went to Bruges around 1465.

There is a story (perhaps apocryphal) that he was wounded at the Battle of Nancy, sheltered and cured by the Hospitallers at Bruges and that to show his gratitude he refused payment for a picture he had painted for them. Memling did indeed paint for the Hospitallers in 1479 and 1480 and it is likely that he was known to the patrons of St John prior to the Battle of Nancy.

Tina Barney (b. 1945, New York City) is an American artist photographer best known for her large-scale portraits of her family and close friends, many of whom are well-to-do denizens of New York and New England.

Her work is in the collections of the George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film in Rochester, New York; the Museum of Modern Art in New York City; the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Texas; the JPMorgan Chase Art Collection in New York City; and the Museum of Contemporary Photography.

She is represented by Janet Borden, Inc. in New York.

Barney has also produced or co-directed short films on the photographers Jan Groover (Jan Groover: Tilting at Space, 1994) and Horst P. Horst (Horst, 1988). She had a documentary filmed about her life, aired 2007 on Sundance Channel, directed by Jaci Judelson.

Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper (born June 22, 1953 in Queens, New York) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and LGBT rights activist.

She achieved success in the mid-1980s with the release of the debut solo album She's So Unusual in 1983, which spawned four Billboard Hot 100 top-five songs—"Girls Just Wanna Have Fun", "Time After Time", "She Bop" and "All Through the Night"—She's So Unusual was the first album in history to have four top five singles by a female. The album earned Lauper Best New Artist at the 27th Grammy Awards in 1985.

Her success continued with the follow-up, True Colors in 1986, which spawned two Billboard Hot 100 top-ten songs—"True Colors" and "Change of Heart", and earned two nominations at the 29th Grammy Awards.

Since 1989 released from a nine studio albums acclaimed critical, A Night to Remember (1989), Hat Full of Stars (1993), Sisters of Avalon (1996), Merry Christmas... Have a Nice Life (1998),Shine (2001), At Last (2003), The Body Acoustic (2005), Bring Ya to the Brink (2008).

Ton Koopman (born 2 October 1944 in Zwolle, Netherlands) is a conductor, organist and harpsichordist.

Koopman had a "classical education" and then studied the organ (with Simon C. Jansen), harpsichord (with Gustav Leonhardt) and musicology in Amsterdam. He specialized in Baroque music and received the Prix d'Excellence for both organ and harpsichord.

In 1979 Koopman founded the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and the Amsterdam Baroque Choir in 1992 (now combined as the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir). Koopman concentrates on Baroque music, especially that of Bach, and is a leading figure in the authentic performance movement. While a number of early-music conductors have ventured into newer music, Koopman has not. He has said, "I draw the line at Mozart’s death" (1791). One exception is his recording of the Concert Champêtre of Francis Poulenc, written in 1928.

Among Koopman's most ambitious projects was the recording of the complete cycle of all of Bach's cantatas, a project completed in 2005. Soloists for the project were among others Lisa Larsson, Sandrine Piau, Sibylla Rubens, Barbara Schlick, Caroline Stam, Deborah York and Johannette Zomer (soprano), Bogna Bartosz, Michael Chance, Franziska Gottwald, Bernhard Landauer, Elisabeth von Magnus, Annette Markert and Kai Wessel (alto), Paul Agnew, Jörg Dürmüller, James Gilchrist, Christoph Prégardien and Gerd Türk (tenor) and Klaus Mertens (bass). Koopman has received many prizes for his recordings. In 2005 he has commenced Dieterich Buxtehude – Opera Omnia, a project to record the complete works of Dieterich Buxtehude. As of March 2010, eleven volumes have been released. He was elected president of the "International Dieterich Buxtehude Society" in 2004.

Gilles Joye (1424 or 1425 – 31 December 1483) was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance. A member of the Burgundian school, he was known mainly for his secular songs which were in a lyrical and graceful style.

He may have come from Kortrijk, since an Oliver Joye, possibly his father, has been identified there in 1420. Gilles seems to have had an excellent musical education, probably at either Kortrijk or Bruges, where he was hired as a singer in 1449. Documents from the cathedral archives show that he was often in trouble: engaging in street brawls, frequenting brothels, refusing to take part in regular singing events, and in particular visiting a notorious prostitute of the town named "Rosabelle". In spite of these activities, he was made a priest, and became a canon at Cleves in 1453 and at St. Donatian in 1459.

Between 1454 and 1459 no record of his activities survives in the Low Countries; based on his composition of an Italian ballata on a poem by a contemporary Florentine, it has been suggested that he spent some time in Italy, as did so many other Franco-Flemish composers of his and succeeding generations. By 1459 he was back at St. Donatian in Bruges.