1464 Robert Fayrfax – English composer (d.1521); his work was a major influence on later composers, including John Taverner and Thomas Tallis.
1564 William Shakespeare– English poet, actor and playwright (d.1616); perhaps the greatest writer in the English language and the world's preeminent dramatist; "If music be the food of love, play on." --Twelfth Night, Act 1, scene 1. Shakespeare was baptized on April 26. April 23 is generally regarded as the actual date of his birth.
1857 Ruggero Leoncavallo – Italian opera composer (d.1919); his Pagliacci is one of the most popular works in the repertory, appearing as number 20 on the Operabase list of the most-performed operas worldwide.
1872 Arthur Farwell – American composer, conductor, music publisher and educator (d.1952); a true American original who, among other things, wrote many works, vocal and instrumental, on the music of Native American peoples.
1882 Albert Coates – English conductor and composer (d.1953); chief conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, 1919-1921.
1891 Sergei Prokofiev – Russian composer, pianist and conductor (d.1953, and his death was largely overshadowed by that of Josef Stalin on the same day); one of the major composers of the 20th century; his best-known works are the five piano concertos, nine completed piano sonatas and seven symphonies; he also composed many popular favorites, such as the March from The Love for Three Oranges, Lieutenant Kijé, Romeo and Juliet and Peter and the Wolf.
1960 Barry Douglas – Irish pianist and conductor (64 years old); won the gold medal in the International Tchaikovsky Competition in 1986, the first non-Russian pianist to do so since Van Cliburn in 1958.
1975 Olga Kern – Russian pianist (49 years old); born as Olga Pushechnikova to a family of musicians with ties to Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff, she later adopted her mother's maiden name; won Gold Medal in the 2001 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.