The guy born on December 25 is not the only one to celebrate this month. American composer Elliott Carter was born on December 11, 1908, and musicians around the world are marking the occasion. As he has for 70-some years, Carter continues to create music of sometimes dizzying complexity, and Washingtonians will have many opportunities this week to get to know it, almost all of them for free. If you are looking for holiday concerts or performances of Messiah or The Nutcracker, we have already done that.

>> On Wednesday (December 10, 7:30 p.m.), musicians from the Paris Opera will perform several works by Carter for various combinations of clarinet, violin, cello, and piano. That will be followed by the sublime Quartet for the End of Time by Olivier Messiaen, who was born on December 10, 2008 1908. This free concert at La Maison Française (4101 Reservoir Rd. NW) requires only a reservation to attend.

>> On Carter's birthday (December 11, 8 p.m.), the Verge Ensemble will kick off the Elliott Carter Centennial Celebration in a free concert at the Library of Congress. You can reserve a seat through Ticketmaster, but if you are averse to paying fees, just show up early to the Coolidge Auditorium (enter the ground level of the Jefferson Building from First St. SE) to claim an empty place.

>> The following evening (December 12, 8 p.m.) Sequitur continues the Elliott Carter Centennial Celebration, also at the Library of Congress. At both of these concerts, the Library is likely to display some of Carter's manuscript scores from its extensive collection.

>> There is also music by Carter, all from the last decade, on the Music as Narrative program offered on Saturday (December 13, 7:30 p.m.) by the Left Bank Concert Society in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. They will also play music by Schoenberg, Schwendiger, and Argento. Tickets: $30.

>> Prepare yourself for the festivities by watching Frank Scheffer's 2006 documentary on Elliott Carter, A Labyrinth of Time (2006), which will be screened at the Library of Congress on Tuesday (December 9, 7 p.m.).

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>> Flutist Visnja Kosanovich and pianist Dasha Gabay will play on this Tuesday's free concert (December 9, 12:10 p.m.) at Church of the Epiphany (1317 G St. NW).

>> The first concert in the series featuring musicians from the Marlboro Festival is scheduled for Wednesday (December 10, 7:30 p.m.) at the Freer Gallery of Art (Jefferson Dr. at 12th St. SW). The program includes music by Mozart, Mendelssohn, Janáček. Again, reserve in advance through Ticketmaster or show up early.

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>> The Young Concert Artists Composers Concert will take place on Monday (December 8, 7:30 p.m.) in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. The next generation of composers featured include Mason Bates, Benjamin C. S. Boyle, Daniel Kellogg, Kevin Puts, and Andrew Norman. Sasha Cooke will reprise Norman's Lullaby, performed on her stellar recital at the National Museum of Women in the Arts last spring. Tickets: $30.

>> To round out a week of modernism, take in some modern dance. The Martha Graham Dance Company will present the reconstruction of Clytemnestra, with a score by Halim El-Dabh (December 9 and 10, 8 p.m.) in the Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater.

>> Then the Merce Cunningham Dance Company gives the D.C. premieres of several works, including several to scores by John Cage, also in the Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater (December 12 and 13, 8 p.m.).

>> Finally, on Sunday (December 14, 3 and 7:30 p.m.) Robert Shafer and Friends will perform a Brahms program in the Mansion at Strathmore. Tickets: $25.

>> Also on Sunday (December 14, 7 p.m.) the University of Maryland School of Music will present a program called From Venice to Leipzig via Amsterdam: Bach and the Concerto, with music by Bach and Vivaldi, at the Clarice Smith Center. Tickets: $30 (students, $7).