Alexios III Angelos (Greek: Αλέξιος Γ' Άγγελος) (c. 1153–1211) was Byzantine Emperor from 1195 to 1203.

Alexios III Angelos was the second son of Andronikos Angelos and Euphrosyne Kastamonitissa. Andronicus was himself a son of Theodora Komnene Angelina, the youngest daughter of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos and Irene Doukaina. Thus Alexios Angelos was a member of the extended imperial family. Together with his father and brothers, Alexios had conspired against Emperor Andronikos I Komnenos (c. 1183), and thus he spent several years in exile in Muslim courts, including that of Saladin.

His younger brother Isaac was threatened with execution under orders of their first-cousin once-removed Andronikos I Komnenos on September 11, 1185. Isaac made a desperate attack on the imperial agents and killed their leader Stephen Hagiochristophorites. He then took refuge in the church of Hagia Sophia and from there appealed to the populace. His actions provoked a riot, which resulted in the deposition of Andronikos I and the proclamation of Isaac as Emperor. Alexios was now closer to the imperial throne than ever before.

Balian of Ibelin (French: Balian d'Ibelin; early 1140s–1193) was an important French noble in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century.

Balian was the youngest son of Barisan of Ibelin, and brother of Hugh and Baldwin. His father, a knight in the County of Jaffa, had been rewarded with the lordship of Ibelin after the revolt of Hugh II of Le Puiset. Barisan married Helvis of Ramla, heiress of the wealthy lordship of Ramla. Balian's name was also Barisan, but he seems to have adapted the name (found in Tuscany and Liguria) to the Old French "Balian" c. 1175–76; he is sometimes known as Balian the Younger or Balian II when his father is also referred to as Balian. He is also called Balian of Ramla or Balian of Nablus. In Latin his name appears variously as Balian, Barisan, Barisanus, Balianus, Balisan, and Balisanus. Arabic sources call him Balian ibn Barzan', which translates "Balian, son of Barzan (or Barisan). His precise year of birth is unknown, but he was of the age of majority (usually 15) by 1158, when he first appears in charters, having been described as under-age ("infra annos") in 1155.

Eugenio Finardi (born July 16, 1952) is an Italian singer, songwriter, guitarist and keyboardist.

Eugenio Finardi was born in Milan, Italy, on July 16, 1952, in a musical family: his father was an Italian music sound engineer and his mother an American opera singer; at age six Finardi made his first record, Palloncino Rosso Fuoco, a children song.

Finardi became part of a thriving music scene in Milan in the late 1960s. Rooted in the Blues, classic Rock'n'Roll and the hippy counter-culture, he became an active member of the left-wing youth movement of those years. His first band was called The Tiger, in 1969. Soon he started playing with Alberto Camerini, a singer and guitarist born in Brazil, who a few years later would be instrumental in introducing American and British New Wave to Italian Pop music. Together they even emulated the US film Easy Rider by travelling on motorbikes from Milan to Amsterdam. The scene Finardi became part of included among others bands like Area and Stormy Six, Claudio Rocchi and female singer-songwriter Donatella Bardi. Finardi made a living by day teaching English, in which he was fluent because of his American mother, and as a musician by night, as singer, guitarist and piano-player. After forming the band Il Pacco with Camerini, Finardi recorded a single in English in 1973, Spacey Stacey/Hard Rock Honey for Numero Uno, the first Italian independent record label started by singer-songwriter Lucio Battisti and his writing partner Mogol, who had a long string of Italian and international hits under their belts, and who had introduced in Italian Pop music different styles from the US and the UK, from the Rock music of Bob Dylan, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, to Blues and Soul. Finardi's single went largely unnoticed.

Alessio Bax is an Italian classical pianist. Bax was born in 1977 in Bari, Italy, and graduated from the Bari conservatory at the age of 14.He won the Hamamatsu International Piano Competition in Japan at age 19 and the Leeds International Pianoforte Competition in 2000 after first participating in 1993. Bax was a member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s CMS Two for three seasons, beginning in 2009. He also received the Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2009. He studied at Southern Methodist University near Dallas, Texas, where he is currently a faculty member of the university's Meadows School of the Arts. Bax is a Steinway Artist.

Bax has appeared as the soloist with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Dallas Symphony, Houston Symphony, Orchestre National de Lille, Hungarian Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Symphony, New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, and St. Petersburg Philharmonic. Bax has collaborated with conductors such as Marin Alsop, Matthias Bamert, Alexander Dimitriev, Jonathan Nott, Vernon Handley, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Ken-ichiro Kobayashi, Dimitry Sitkovetsky, Yuri Temirkanov, and Sir Simon Rattle. As a chamber music performer, Bax has performed with musicians such as Emanuel Ax, Joshua Bell, Steven Isserlis, Andrés Diaz and Nobuko Imai.

John Kenneth Wetton (born 12 June 1949) is an English bassist, guitarist, keyboardist, singer and songwriter. He was born in Willington, Derbyshire, and grew up in Bournemouth. He has been a professional musician since the late 1960s. He initially rose to fame in progressive rock with bands such as Mogul Thrash, Family, King Crimson, Roxy Music/Bryan Ferry, Uriah Heep, UK, Jack-Knife, and Wishbone Ash. His biggest commercial success was as the frontman and principal songwriter of the supergroup Asia. Their self-titled debut album sold 8 million copies worldwide and was Billboard magazine's #1 album of 1982.

Wetton first cut his musical teeth on church music at his family’s piano. He often played the bass parts to help his brother rehearse tunes for services, an experience that led to his love of bass melodies. In his teens, Wetton focused those melodies on the bass guitar and honed his skills by playing and singing with local bands. He also started songwriting with an early bandmate, Richard Palmer-James, a relationship that would continue through five decades.