Barbara Grammeniati is a musicologist and researcher of Renaissance music, dance and court festival. She lectured extensively in Europe and the USA and recently organized the international interdisciplinary symposium "Seventeenth century ballet: a multi-art spectacle" in King's College London, 10 August 2010. Barbara's research interests led her to the libraries and archives of Turin where she discovered Filippo d'Agli � manuscripts and letters which led to the creation of the first translation � of his surviving libretti and an edition of his music. Barbara Grammeniati's original study does not only � explore d ' Agli �' s artistic legacy but also fills a gap in our understanding… of court festivities in seventeenth century Europe.� �
Aldia A. Rakova, a Russian language instructor, linguist, and translator at the University of Iowa, has taught the language at all levels from elementary to advanced linguistic courses. She is also project coordinator for translation projects, terminologist (English�Russian medical database), and translator of Russian and Polish at the University of Iowa Translation Laboratory. She has published numerous articles on Slavic linguistics, teaching methodology, and the cultural aspects of translation.Ray Parrotthas taught Russian language and literature classes at the Universities of Iowa and Michigan for many years and currently holds the rank of Professor and Chair, Department of Russian,… at the University of Iowa. He has authored, edited, and translated numerous books and articles on literary and pedagogical issues, in addition to serving actively in his field�s major professional associations. For the past decade he has edited the AATSEEL Newsletter for the American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages, a major forum for language instructors.