RHAPSODIES AROUND THE WORLD recording was conceived in Michigan to feature newly commissioned compositions for clarinet and piano which were composed for me and inspired by one of the most important 20th century works for clarinet: Claude Debussy’s Première Rhapsodie. This celebrated French composition served as an inspiration and common thread for six international composers, based in six different continents. The Première Rhapsodie by Claude Debussy for clarinet and piano was composed between December 1909 and January 1910. It was dedicated to the French clarinet professor Prosper Mimart, who was one of the renowned clarinet professors at the Paris Conservatoire. This piece has become a staple in the clarinet repertoire and is considered one of the most important early 20th French compositions for clarinet, and a wonderful examples of impressionistic writing for a solo instrument and piano. This is one of the reasons why I chose this piece to become the “template” for all other new pieces sharing the same identification of “rhapsody”. This recording includes the original Debussy composition, followed by six brand new compositions by composers from around the world, representing the following six continents: Europe, Asia, North America, South America, Africa and Australia. The rationale for six different works “from each corner of the world” so to speak, echoes the multi-nationalism facet of a global musical language paying homage to the great French composer Claude Debussy. Every composer on this recording, explored a new approach to the rhapsodic form, and gave a new interpretation to the concept of Rhapsodie. This worldwide exploration of sound is unified by Debussy’s Rhapsodie as a link between different regions of the world as well as different sound spectrums of diverse societies. The fact that each composition on this recording originated from a different continent will certainly provide a fascinating take on the concept of a “Rhapsody”. These compositions were by no means an attempt to have one piece representing a whole continent - obviously neither one composition nor one composer can do so. Rather, this CD is a retrospective of different styles of compositions through the commonality of a shared idea and inspiration by a pre-selected composition; in this case, Debussy’s Première Rhapsodie.