This week, local classical music events are overshadowed by the visit of the Kirov Opera, who are performing at the Kennedy Center. It's not the only thing to hear this week, obviously, but their performances are the ones that are getting our attention. Worry not: we have lots of other concerts to tell you about, too. If you want more options, check out our Classical Week in Washington feature at Ionarts.

NEW MUSIC:
>> One of the most exciting composers alive today, Meredith Monk, will bring her Vocal Ensemble to our area this Saturday (February 25, 8 p.m.) for a performance of The Impermanence Project at the George Mason University Center for the Arts in Fairfax. Monk works with music, movement, light, and sound, and she created this work while leading a workshop at a hospice in London. A series of scenes are accompanied by voice, piano, clarinet, breath, bicycle tire, and other inventive instrumentation. Tickets: $20 to $40.

FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE:
>> We will be bringing you a review of the Kirov Opera's production of Puccini's Chinese opera, Turandot, which premieres this afternoon. Other performances are scheduled for Thursday (February 23, 7:30 p.m.) and Saturday (February 25, 7:30 p.m.), and none of them are sold out yet. Even more interesting to us, although less of an obvious crowd-pleaser as far as operas go, the Kirov will give two performances of Wagner's final music drama, the religious festival piece he called Parsifal, on Tuesday (February 21, 6 p.m.) and next Sunday (February 26, 3 p.m.). Valery Gergiev, who is as renowned as Mariss Jansons for his conducting if not, in our opinion, as deservedly so, will lead his corps of singers from Moscow. Tickets for all the operas, still available: $45 to (gasp) $200. Also, it's not technically an opera, but who are we kidding? The Kirov Orchestra, Chorus, and soloists will also give a single performance of Verdi's dramatic, thrilling, and emotionally devastating Requiem Mass, on Friday (February 24, 8:30 p.m.) in the Kennedy Center Opera House. Tickets: $45 to $150.

>> If you can justify one of these performances as a special night out for yourself, they will be excellent. After the jump, some more affordable options and even some free concerts.

LOCAL AND OTHER GROUPS:
>> The National Symphony Orchestra is back in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall this week, with the remarkable violinist Midori as their guest soloist earning her paycheck in Tchaikovsky's violin concerto. The NSO will also present pieces by Hindemith and Mozart (the "Linz" symphony), as well as the world premiere of a new work (Morning's Embrace) by American composer Joseph Schwantner, professor of composition at Yale and recipient of a Pulitzer Prize. Performances are scheduled for Thursday (February 23, 7 p.m.) and Friday and Saturday (February 24 and 25, 8 p.m.). Tickets: $20 to $79. You can hear some of the NSO's players perform some of the Mozart and Hindemith selections, for free, at the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage on Friday (February 24, 6 p.m.).

>> Washington's own Metropolitan Chorus will join with mime Dan Kamin this week for a series of unusual performances. On Friday (February 24, 7:30 p.m.), they will present a work called Funny Bones at the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association in Arlington (4301 Wilson Blvd.), which must have an auditorium. On Sunday (February 26, 3 p.m.), they will perform a new "comedy concerto" written and directed by Dan Kamin, A Chorus Mime, at the Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center in Alexandria (3001 N. Beauregard St.). Tickets: $10 to $25. If you want to catch some of this stuff for free, go to the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage on Thursday (February 23, 6 p.m.), where members of the chorus and Dan Kamin will perform some excerpts.

THE FREE KIND:
>> The Library of Congress hosts the Kuijken String Quartet on Tuesday (February 21, 8 p.m.), playing the last three of Mozart's quartets dedicated to Haydn. As we told you last week, the Kuijkens play the first three this evening, also for free, at the National Gallery of Art.

>> This Wednesday (February 22, 7:30 p.m.), violinist Rachel Barton Pine will give a free recital at the National Museum of Women in the Arts (1250 New York Ave. NW). With pianist Matthew Hagle, she will perform a tribute to pioneering 19th-century American violinist Maud Powell, playing movements from concerti premiered by Powell and pieces dedicated to her. Make a reservation by phone (202-783-7370) or e-mail (reservations at nmwa dot org).

>> The Domingo-Cafritz Young Artists of Washington National Opera will give a free, fully staged production of Humperdinck's opera Hansel and Gretel. Performances are scheduled for Thursday (February 23, 7 p.m.) and Friday (February 24, 7 p.m.), in an English translation, at the Inter-American Development Bank Cultural Center (1330 New York Ave. NW). Children older than 8 years old are likely to enjoy this work, although the staging has been updated. No reservations are required.

>> On Sunday (February 26, 5 p.m.), the Ensō String Quartet from Rice University will play the free concert at the Phillips Collection. That is, if you pay to get into the museum, you can see the concert for free. The same evening (February 26, 6:30 p.m.) pianist Larry Eanet and his ensemble will play a free concert of post-World War I jazz in the West Garden Court, in honor of the new Dada exhibit, which opens today.