With so many artists being so courageous these days, it's hard to salute them all.

With so many artists being so courageous these days, it's hard to salute them all. But at least they can be counted on to salute themselves. This week's hero is Ronald Feldman, conductor of the Berkshire Symphony, an ensemble in western Massachusetts. "It's a challenge to perform [Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony]," Feldman said before a recent performance. "It's more of a challenge to step forward in any way we can to make our voices heard when we see injustice. This program is my contribution to this process." The program in question featured works meant to highlight the "repressive political climate in the United States," and its "wars creating misery and instability." No easy task, that, what with repression round about. Shostakovich wrote his Filth in response to criticism from Stalin, under threat of execution or imprisonment. Feldman must know just how he felt.