Hovsångare (Hovsångerska for women), literally Court Singer, is a title awarded by the Swedish monarch to a singer (usually an opera singer) who, by their vocal art, has contributed to the international standing of Swedish singing. The formal title was introduced by King Gustav III of Sweden in 1773, with the first recipients being Elisabeth Olin and Carl Stenborg. The position as such, however, dates back to the 17th-century, when Anne Chabanceau de La Barre and Joseph Chabanceau de La Barre were singers at the court of Queen Christina of Sweden.

David Alan Stockman (born November 10, 1946) is a former U.S. politician and businessman, serving as a Republican U.S. Representative from the state of Michigan (1977–1981) and as the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (1981–1985).

Stockman was born in Fort Hood, Texas, the son Allen Stockman, a fruit farmer, and Carol (née Bartz). He is of German descent and his family's surname was originally "Stockmann". He was raised in a conservative family and his maternal grandfather, William Bartz, was a Republican county treasurer for 30 years. Stockman was educated at public schools in Stevensville, Michigan. He graduated from Lakeshore High School during 1964 and received a B.A. from Michigan State University, East Lansing, during 1968. He performed graduate studies at Harvard University, 1968–1970 and 1974–1975. He attended Harvard Divinity School.

He served as special assistant to United States Representative and 1980 Presidential candidate John Anderson of Illinois, 1970–1972, and was executive director, United States House of Representatives Republican Conference, 1972–1975.

Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten,OM CH (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist; and one of the central figures of 20th century British classical music. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to international fame. For the next fifteen years he devoted much of his compositional attention to writing operas, establishing him as one of the leading 20th century figures in this genre.

Britten's interests as a composer were wide-ranging; he produced important music in such varied genres as orchestral, choral, solo vocal (much of it written for his life partner, tenor Peter Pears), chamber and instrumental, as well as film music. He also took a great interest in writing music for children and amateur performers, and was an outstanding pianist and conductor.

Britten was born in Lowestoft, Suffolk, on 22 November 1913, the youngest of four children. His father, Robert, was a dentist, and his mother Edith, a talented amateur musician who gave Britten his first lessons in piano and notation. He showed musical gifts very early in life, making his first attempts at composition aged five, and thereafter composing prolifically as a child. He started piano lessons with a teacher from his pre-prep school when aged 7, and viola lessons with Audrey Alston when 10 years old.

Peter Mattei (born 3 June 1965 in Piteå, Sweden) is a Swedish operatic baritone, particularly known for his performances in Mozart's baritone roles.

Peter Mattei studied at the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. He debuted in Mozart's La finta giardiniera as Nardo at the Drottningholm Palace Theatre in Stockholm in 1990. In 1993 Peter Mattei starred as Pentheus in the Ingmar Bergman's TV-film Backanterna. He sang the title role in Mozart's Don Giovanni for the first time at the Gothenburg Opera in the 1994-95 season. In the same season, Peter Mattei performed as Figaro in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro at the Royal Swedish Opera.

Peter Mattei made his international debut as Don Giovanni at the Scottish Opera in Glasgow, Scotland. He was then invited to the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, Brussels, Belgium and to the Aix-en-Provence Festival, France. His first appearance at the Salzburg Festival was in Beethoven's Fidelio, singing Don Fernando conducted by Sir Georg Solti in 1996. Claudio Abbado selected him as the bass soloist in Bach's St. Matthew Passion with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2002, Peter Mattei made his first appearance at the Metropolitan Opera as Count Almaviva in Mozart's Figaro. This role has been followed by, among others, Mozart's Don Giovanni in 2003 and Rossini's Figaro in 2006. With Don Giovanni he made a very successful debut at La Scala in Milan, opening the season 2011-2012.