1885 Werner Josten – German-born American composer (d.1963); best known for the symphonic poem Jungle (1928), inspired by African music.
1897 Alexandre Tansman – Polish-born French composer and virtuoso pianist (d.1986); best known for his guitar pieces, mostly written for Andrés Segovia.
1913 premiere of the Florent Schmitt ballet La tragédie de Salomé (The Tragedy of Salome) at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées by the Ballets Russes, Pierre Monteux conducting.
1917 premiere of Hans Pfitzner's opera Palestrina in Munich; based on a legend about the composer Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, who saves the art of polyphony for the Church in the 16th century through his composition of the Pope Marcellus Mass.
1923 first public performance of Sir William Walton's Façade - An Entertainment in London, with Dame Edith Sitwell reciting her poems, the composer conducting.
1933 the first ‘concert’ performance of the Duke Ellington Orchestra at the London Palladium during the ensemble's first visit to England; previously the orchestra had only performed at night clubs, dance halls, hotels and other informal entertainment venues; it would be ten years before Ellington would present a concert performance at Carnegie Hall in New York (on January 23, 1943).
1941 Chick Corea – American jazz and fusion pianist, keyboardist, and composer (died February 9, 2021); dabbled in many musical styles, including classical.
1952 Oliver Knussen – Scottish composer and conductor (d. 2018); during the 1980s, wrote two ‘children's operas’, Where the Wild Things Are and Higglety Pigglety Pop! with librettos by Maurice Sendak, based on Mr. Sendak's own books; made several recordings with the Cleveland Orchestra.
2002 first performance of Jennifer Higdon’s Concerto for Orchestra by the Philadelphia Orchestra, Wolfgang Sawallisch conducting.