1) Claude Debussy was a French composer born in 1862 who helped develop impressionist music. 2) He started taking piano lessons at age 7 and showed great talent, entering the Paris Conservatory at age 11 where he studied for 11 years. 3) Some of his most important pieces include "Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun" from 1894 and the opera "Pelleas et Melisande" from 1902.