Clarinetist Dimitri Ashkenazy has compiled a very personal selection of solo pieces for clarinet that have been important to him in one way or another. He envisaged "a lamp with soft light, a music stand, my open clarinet case and other things that are connected to the solitude of practice sessions and the sometime loneliness associated with the striving for excellence". Born in 1969 in New York, Dimitri Ashkenazy began playing the piano at age six before switching to the clarinet. Since completing his studies, he has gone on to perform widely, both as soloist and chamber musician.