Laurence Vittes was born and grew up in Los Angeles; his father was a writer and his mother a teacher. He trained as a cellist, a librarian and a critic. His company was a major supplier to the music and recordings collections of the Library of Congress, Bibliothèque Nationale, British Library, Stanford, Harvard and Yale. He introduced French Harmonia Mundi, Hyperion, Chandos and Naxos to the North American market. Laurence believes that writing about music unleashes the potential of the classical music industry. He writes for the Huffington Post, Gramophone, Bachtrack, Strings, Audiophile Audition, and the Southern California Early Music Society.

Israeli-Mexican-American cellist Michal Shein is a performer, community organizer and master educator focused on curating cross-cultural performance projects and intensive educational initiatives. In 2021, she founded the Cellísimo Festival, an intensive high level cello festival for Spanish speaking cellists which includes masterclasses with world-class faculty, special lectures and wellness sessions.