Your classical music schedule will be busy for the next two or three weeks, through Thanksgiving, and you have the chance to hear almost as much for free as you do buying tickets.

BIG GUNS:
>> Emmanuel Pahud is one of the leading flutists of the younger generation. He will be in Washington this week, beginning with a recital with his regular pianist collaborator, Eric Le Sage, at the Phillips Collection on Wednesday (November 7, 7:30 p.m.). The program of Reinecke, Strauss, Widor, and Franck is drawn from Pahud's recent CDs. Tickets: $30.

>> Pianist Eric Le Sage will also give a solo recital on Friday (November 9, 7:30 p.m.) at La Maison Française. Tickets: $20.

>> Emmanuel Pahud will also play the first Mozart flute concerto on the concerts with the National Symphony Orchestra this week (November 8 to 10), in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall. The rest of the program is just as appealing, with Principal Guest Conductor Iván Fischer leading three pieces by Czech composers.

>> Günther Herbig will lead this week's concerts by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra this week, including the Music Center at Strathmore on Saturday (November 10, 8 p.m.). The program offers another chance to hear Schubert's Ninth Symphony, as well as concertmaster Jonathan Carney testing himself on the demanding Sibelius violin concerto.

>> Although the playing of the Ying Quartet is not part of my experience, the program for their Saturday concert (November 10, 8 p.m.) at the Kreeger Museum (2401 Foxhall Rd. NW) has plenty to recommend it. It combines the complete Stravinsky works for string quartet with two Beethoven quartets.

>> Opera is not strictly a relic of the past. Hear a promising new opera premiered in 1999, William Bolcom's A View from the Bridge, in its Washington premiere from Washington National Opera. The production opened last night and continues in five more performances from November 5 to 17, at the Kennedy Center Opera House.

>> Soprano Measha Brueggergosman gives her Vocal Arts Society recital on Wednesday (November 7, 7:30 p.m.) at the Austrian Embassy.

>> Get a chance to hear the new downtown venue, the Harman Center for the Arts (650 F St. NW), connected to the Shakespeare Theater. The Washington Bach Consort will play a concert next Sunday (November 11, 3 p.m.) featuring Bach's well-known Brandenburg Concertos.

FREE, PLEASE:
>> The Friday Morning Music Club presents a free concert on Monday (November 5, 7:30 p.m.) in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. Soprano Emily Hindrichs, winner of the Washington International Voice Competition, will sing Samuel Barber's Knoxville: Summer of 1915, one of the most beautiful modern song cycles.

>> The Washington Bach Consort gives its monthly noontime cantata on Tuesday (November 6, 12 noon) at the Church of the Epiphany (13th and G Sts. NW). The cantata is Der Herr denket an uns (BWV 196), and Julie Vidrich Evans will play the organ.

>> The North American Indian Cello Project appears at Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center on Tuesday (November 6, 5:30 p.m.).

>> Musicians from the Marlboro Festival give a free concert of music by Kodály and Beethoven at the Freer Gallery of Art on Wednesday (November 7, 7:30 p.m.).

>> Baritone Ryan de Ryke presents a free recital on Friday (November 9, 7:30 p.m.) at the Austrian Embassy. You need to RSVP by phone or e-mail.

>> Conductor Norman Scribner leads the MacDowell Colony Centennial Concert on the free series at the Library of Congress on Friday (November 9, 8 p.m.). Reserve seats through Ticketmaster or wait on line starting an hour before the concert.

>> The New Zealand String Quartet plays on the free series at the National Academy of Sciences (2100 C St. NW) on Sunday (November 11, 3 p.m.).

>> Pianist Alessio Bax gives a free recital at the Phillips Collection on Sunday (November 11, 4 p.m.). The challenging program combines music by Brahms and Rachmaninov.

>> How to choose? Pianist and historian Paul Badura-Skoda will also play a free recital on Sunday evening (November 11, 6:30 p.m.), at the National Gallery of Art. The one-hour program features music by Beethoven, Haydn, and Schubert.

>> For more concert information, go to Ionarts.