Editing 1896 in music (section)

== Births ==
*[[January 20]] – [[Elmer Diktonius]], poet and composer (d. 1961)
*[[January 25]] – [[Florence Mills]], cabaret and jazz performer (d. 1927)
*[[January 28]] – [[Elsie Carlisle]], English singer (d. 1977)
*[[February 3]] – [[Kid Thomas Valentine]], jazz trumpeter (d. 1987)
*[[February 9]] – [[Steffy Goldner]], harpist (d. 1962)
*[[February 22]] – [[Nacio Herb Brown]], US songwriter (d. 1964)
*[[March 1]] – [[Dimitris Mitropoulos]], pianist, conductor and composer (d. 1960)
*[[April 10]] – [[Edith Day]], US actress, singer and dancer (d. 1971)
*[[April 30]] – [[Reverend Gary Davis]], blues and gospel singer and instrumentalist (d. 1972)
*[[June 1]] – [[Sydney Kyte]], British bandleader and violinist (d. 1981)
*[[June 20]] – [[Wilfrid Pelletier]], Canadian conductor (d. 1982)
*[[July 10]] 
** [[Stefan Askenase]], Polish-Belgian classical pianist and pedagogue (d. 1985)
** [[Maurice Zbriger]], Ukrainian-born Canadian violinist, composer and conductor (d. 1981)
*[[August 2]] – [[Lorenzo Herrera]], singer and composer (d. 1960)
*[[August 15]] – [[Léon Theremin]], Russian inventor of the musical instrument named after him (d. 1993)
*[[September 2]] – [[Amanda Randolph]], actress and singer (d. 1967)
*[[September 8]] – [[Howard Dietz]], lyricist (d. 1983)
*[[September 10]] – [[Adele Astaire]], US dancer and singer (d. 1981)
*[[September 15]] – [[Bert Ambrose]], English bandleader and violinist (d. 1971)
*[[September 25]] – [[Roberto Gerhard]], composer (d. 1970)
*[[October 7]] – [[Phil Ohman]], US bandleader (d. 1954)
*[[October 17]] – [[Fernando Obradors]], composer (d. 1945)
*[[October 18]] – [[Friedrich Hollaender]], composer (d. 1976)
*[[October 28]] – [[Howard Hanson]], composer (d. 1981)
*[[October 31]] – [[Ethel Waters]], singer (d. 1977)
*[[November 23]] – [[Ruth Etting]], US singer (d. 1978)
*[[November 25]] – [[Virgil Thomson]], composer and critic (d. 1989)
*[[December 6]] – [[Ira Gershwin]], lyricist (d. 1983)
*[[December 12]] – [[Jenö Ádám]], conductor, composer and music teacher (d. 1982)
*[[December 21]] – [[Leroy Robertson]], composer and music teacher (d. 1971)
*[[December 28]] – [[Roger Sessions]], composer (d. 1985)