Instead, in the spirit of self-improvement, I decided to make a musical new year's resolution and attack one of my deep-seated musical prejudices. After years of dissatisfaction with the music of Dmitri Shostakovich--and disbelief that some rank him alongside Igor Stravinsky--I resolve to revisit several symphonies and a chunk of chamber music by this revered Russian composer. I also resolve to delve into the nether reaches of baroque music and refrain from grumbling about Vivaldi.
May I suggest some resolutions for local musicians? The straight-ahead jazz crowd needs a thorough, unbiased, web-based gig calendar similar to the Tentacle website (www.tentacle.org), which caters to experimental music. Someone needs to corral a half-dozen volunteers to make this happen so folks know that there is more to straight-ahead jazz in town than Jazz Alley and Tula's. Also, I would love to hear music of the European avant-garde (Nono, Xenakis, Ligeti) and their descendants (Ferneyhough, Sciarrino, Lachenmann) performed live. An especially bold soul should organize an ongoing series devoted to electro-acoustic music. If there is even one acoustic musician daring enough to add one or two electro-acoustic works to their concerts, then I will have a happy new year indeed. CHRISTOPHER DeLAURENTI
