At the end of these short days in December, there are nights full of great music. Try and get out and catch some of this stuff (none of it holiday music!):

Read this great little piece about Steven Blier then go see him at the New York Festival of Song program Manning the Canon . . . at Issue Project Room you can hear the Darmstadt Essential Repertoire festival – Sequenzas, Knee Plays, Gesang der Jünglinge, et. al. – it’s an amazing program of 20th century experimental masterpieces . . . the ACO has a concert and the Chiara Quartet is returning . . . Matt Marks is working on an opera about a cannibal . . . the Yale Percussion Group will be at Zankel . . . an amazing Interpretations event for Muhal Richard Abrams . . . Ken Thompson is at Music at First . . . Miller Theater hosts a portrait of Pierre Boulez, with the man in attendance . . . the second concert in the Pacifica Quartet’s Shostakovich cycle . . . more CONTACT! . . . The Dither Quartet has a workshop project with new electric guitar music . . . Catch the excellent Ideal Bread playing the music of Steve Lacy at the Cornelia Street Cafe . . . there’s Baroque music in Brooklyn . . . Film Forum and Carnegie Hall are both honoring Toru Takemitsu . . .

And of course there’s a holiday event, both free and encouraging participation, Unsilent Night. I’ll see you at that one, I’m sure.

UPDATED: additional listings