Sonic Impact, a two-day festival by the consortium New Music Chicago, starts tomorrow in the big-shouldered city. Seventeen ensembles will participate, including such national new-music stars as Eighth Blackbird and ICE, together with outfits that are new to me, such as HardArt groop, which aims to "save the world from bad programming and to try and get everyone to not take themselves so seriously," and admits to having "completely failed." Mark-Anthony Turnage is the guest composer.
