Dmitry Stepanovich Bortniansky was a Russian Imperial composer of Ukrainian Cossack origin. He was also a harpsichordist and conductor who served at the court of Catherine the Great. Bortniansky was critical to the musical history of both Russia and Ukraine, with both nations claiming him as their own.

Maxim Sozontovich Berezovsky was a composer of secular and liturgical music, and a conductor and opera singer, who worked at the St. Petersburg Court Chapel in the Russian Empire, but who also spent much of his career in Italy. He made an important contribution in the music of Ukraine. Together with Artemy Vedel and Dmitry Bortniansky, Berezovsky is considered by musicologists as one of the "Golden Three" composers of 18th century Ukrainian classical music, and one of Russia's greatest choral composers.