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Heitor Villa-Lobos was one of the foremost composers of the twentieth century, combining elements of music indigenous to Brazil and Latin America with Western classical music. His work is heavily influenced by Johann Sebastian Bach (e.g., Bachianas Brasileiras), Richard Wagner, and Giacomo Puccini).

Born in Rio de Janeiro on March 5, 1887. he started learning the cello at age 6. Although his mother did not approve of his musical aspirations and wanted him to become a doctor, Villa-Lobos left home at the age of 18 and supported himself playing the guitar and cello while travelling around Brazil.

In 1915, his works were featured in a concert in Rio de Janeiro and the publishing firm Artur Napoleão began to publish his compositions. In this year, he also met pianist Artur Rubinstein, who performed his works across the world. From 1923 until 1929, he lived in Paris, composing, and organizing a number of concerts. In 1930, he became director of the São Paulo school system in Brazil and in 1932, he became in charge of music education throughout the country. In 1945, he established the Brazilian Academy of Music with Oscar Lorenzo Fernandez.

By the time of his death, in 1959, Villa-Lobos had written over 2000 compositions, including orchestral, chamber, instrumental, and vocal works. His guitar compositions, in particular, have become part of the standard repertory for the instrument.

Villa-Lobos married Lucília Guimarães, a pianist and teacher, in 1913. In 1936, he left his wife for Arminda Neves d’Almeida, who remained his companion until his death, Arminda took Villa-Lobos' name, although they never married. Many of his works are dedicated to Arminda, or "Mindhinha."

Mary Vingoe is a Canadian playwright, actor and theatre director. Born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, she graduated from Dalhousie University and received the University Medal in Theatre in 1976. She completed her MA in Drama at the University of Toronto in 1977 and lived in Toronto for 13 years before returning to Nova Scotia. She was the founding Artistic Director of the Magnetic North Theatre Festival in Ottawa, and a co-founder of the Toronto feminist theatre company Nightwood Theatre, Ship's Company Theatre in Parrsboro, Nova Scotia, and Eastern Front Theatre in Halifax.

Vingoe has directed at major theatres across the country and has acted and written for stage, radio, television and film. She has been closely associated with the work of many Canadian playwrights, in particular Wendy Lill, for whom she has directed five world premieres, four of which were nominated for Governor General’s awards. She has received the Mayor’s Award for Achievement in Theatre, the Portia White Prize, and the Robert E. Merritt Award for Achievement in Theatre. In 2011 she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.

J. Andrew (Andy) Wainwright is a poet, novelist and McCulloch Professor Emeritus of English at Dalhousie University. He was born 12 May 1946 in Toronto, Ontario, and received his BA in 1969 at the University of Toronto. He spent the early 1970s in Spain, Greece and England before moving to Halifax to pursue his MA (1973) and PhD (1978) in English at Dalhousie University. He began teaching at Dalhousie in 1979, with a focus on modern and postmodern (Canadian) literature, indigenous studies, gender studies, multicultural fiction and poetry, intercultural issues and popular culture.

Wainwright is widely published, with titles including World Enough and Time: Charles Bruce, A Critical Biography (1988); Landscape and Desire: Poems Selected and New (1992); (ed.) A Very Large Soul: Margaret Laurence’s Letters to Canadian Writers (1995); A Deathful Ridge: A Novel of Everest (1997); A Far Time (2001); (ed.) Every Grain of Sand: Canadian Perspectives on Environment and Ecology (2004); The Confluence (2007); and Blazing Figures: A Life of Robert Markle (2009).

He retired from teaching in 2008.