Matthew Curtis (1807–1887) was an industrialist and civic leader in Manchester. He was Mayor of Manchester three times.

Born in Manchester in 1807, Curtis was initially apprenticed to the firm of Joseph Chessborough Dyer, subsequently becoming foreman, and then succeeding in 1836 to the ownership of Dyer's business, which became Curtis, Parr & Walton. By trade, Curtis was a wire-card manufacturer and a machine-maker. He was a partner in two businesses: Curtis, Parr & Walton, wire-card makers, and Parr, Curtis & Madely, machine-makers. These firms were involved in the manufacture of equipment for spinning cotton, the former in the production of Dyer's Frame and the latter producing Smith & Orr's Self-Acting Mule. By the middle of the nineteenth century, Curtis's firms were the largest manufacturers of cotton-spinning machinery in Britain.

In December 1875, during his second term as Mayor of Manchester, Curtis put in place the copper ball on the summit of the Albert Square tower of the new Manchester Town Hall, which was nearing its completion in 1877. Curtis was a council member of the Manchester Anti-Corn Law Association and a founding director of the Manchester Athenaeum. He resided at Thornfield in Heaton Mersey, south of the city, and died on 9 june 1887 or 11 June 1887, during his third term as Mayor. He was married firstly to Amelia Curtis (d. between 1871 and 1881), with whom there were five or more children, including sons John (1836–1878) and Richard. He subsequently married Charlotte Curtis (1824–1918). Curtis's great-granddaughter Lettice Curtis was a noted aviator.

Jonathan Douglas "Jon" Quick (born January 21, 1986) is an American professional ice hockey goaltender currently playing for the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Quick played at Hamden High School in Hamden, Connecticut before transferring to Avon Old Farms. While at Hamden, Quick was named to the 2002 New Haven Register All-Area Ice Hockey Team.

Quick led Avon Old Farms to two straight New England Prep Championships in his junior and senior seasons. Quick had nine shutouts during his senior year.

While playing for the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Quick led the Minutemen to their first ever NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship appearance.

After losing in his first professional start, with the ECHL's Reading Royals, Quick made a statistically unlikely goal during a shutout in his second start, scoring an empty-net goal against the Pensacola Ice Pilots on October 27, 2007, at 19:25 in the third period.

Quick played his first NHL game on December 6, 2007 against the Buffalo Sabres in an 8–2 win.

Eric Whitacre (born 2 January 1970 in Reno, Nevada) is an American Grammy award winning composer, conductor and lecturer. He is one of the most popular and performed composers of his generation. In 2008, the all-Whitacre choral CD Cloudburst (released by the British ensemble Polyphony on Hyperion Records) became an international best-seller, topping the classical charts and earning a Grammy nomination. Robert Hollingworth commented: "what hits you straight between the eyes is the honesty, optimism and sheer belief that passes any pretension. This is music that can actually make you smile." In addition to Whitacre's litany of choral and wind ensemble compositions, he is also known for his "Virtual Choir" projects on YouTube, bringing individual voices from around the globe together in a cyber internet choir. His virtual choirs have exposed his music to a new audience and have helped it gain an unprecedented popularity. Whitacre signed a long-term recording deal with Decca in 2010 and continues to develop his award winning musical Paradise Lost. A concert version was given at Carnegie Hall in 2010. Plans for the stage show and soundtrack extend into 2013.

Franz Xaver Biebl (1 September 1906 – 2 October 2001) was a German composer of classical music. Most of his compositions were for choral ensembles.

Biebl was born in Pursruck, now part of Freudenberg, Bavaria, in 1906. He studied composition at the Musikhochschule in Munich. Biebl served as Choir Director at the Catholic church of St Maria in München-Thalkirchen from 1932 until 1939, and as an assistant professor of choral music at the Mozarteum, an academy of music in Salzburg, Austria, beginning in 1939, where he taught voice and music theory.

Biebl was drafted into the military beginning in 1943 during World War II. He was a prisoner of war from 1944 to 1946, being detained at Fort Custer in Battle Creek, Michigan. After the war, he moved from Austria to Fürstenfeldbruck, Germany, where he served as director of the town chorus.

Biebl's best-known work is his Ave Maria (1964), which sets portions of the Angelus as well as the Ave Maria. The piece was brought to the United States by the Cornell University Glee Club in 1970. The ensemble met Biebl while on tour in Germany, during a recording session at a radio network where Biebl was music director. Conductor Thomas A. Sokol was given a number of Biebl's works, premiering them after returning home. The Ave Maria quickly gained popularity, most notably after becoming part of the repertoire of Chanticleer. Although it was originally scored for male voices, after "Ave Maria" became popular the composer himself rearranged the piece for SATB and SSA choirs as well.

Antonio Lotti (ca. 1667 – 5 January 1740) was an Italian composer of classical music.

Lotti was born in Venice, although his father Matteo was Kapellmeister at Hanover at the time. In 1682, Lotti began studying with Lodovico Fuga and Giovanni Legrenzi, both of whom were employed at St Mark's Basilica, Venice's principal church. Lotti made his career at St Mark's, first as an alto singer (from 1689), then as assistant to the second organist, then as second organist (from 1692), then (from 1704) as first organist, and finally (from 1736) as maestro di cappella, a position he held until his death. He also wrote music for, and taught at, the Ospedale degli Incurabili. In 1717 he was given leave to go to Dresden, where a number of his operas were produced, including Giove in Argo, Teofane and Li quattro elementi (all with librettos by Antonio Maria Luchini). Other works written in Venice include Giustino; Trionfo dell'Innocenza; first act of Tirsi, Achille Placato, Teuzzone, Ama più che non si crede, Il comando inteso e tradito, Sidonio, Isaccio tiranno, La forze de sangue, Il Tradimento traditore di sè stesso, L'Infedeltà punita, Poresenna, Irene Augusta, Polidoro, Foca superbo, Alessandro Severo, Il Vincitore Generossi. In Dresden, he wrote Odii del Sangue delusi. He returned to Venice in 1719 and remained there until his death in 1740. He returned to Venice in 1719 and remained there until his death in 1740.