To those readers who missed their Classical Music Agenda last week, apologies are in order. Your faithful chronicler was in Paris for the week and experiencing a general lack of Internet connectivity. Now I am back, and there a lot of concerts to tell you about. We may not emphasize this enough, but “classical music” does not mean only music that is old. In fact, living composers are still writing works that continue and modify the traditions of high art music. This week, we are leading off with some contemporary music you can hear, all for free.

NEW MUSIC:
>> On Thursday (March 30, 6 and 7 p.m.), sound artists Richard Chartier and Taylor Deupree will give the world premiere of a new piece of music, Specification Fifteen, in the Lerner Room at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. This work was created especially for the Hirshhorn’s Hiroshi Sugimoto exhibition. It is a live collaboration commissioned by the museum, based on a series of Sugimoto’s photographs called Seascapes. These events are free and open to the public.

>> On Friday (March 31, 8 p.m.), the Library of Congress will present a concert in honor of the 90th birthday of legendary American composer Milton Babbitt. Pianist Robert Taub, soprano Judith Bettina, and violinist Curtis Macomber will play a selection of Babbitt’s chamber music, including a new work for violin and piano commissioned by the Library of Congress. A ticket is required, available through Ticketmaster for the usual fees, or you can get there early and wait on line for an extra seat. If you want to learn something about Milton Babbitt’s music, you can go the free pre-concert presentation (March 31, 6:15 p.m.) by Stephen Soderberg, from the Library’s Music Division. No tickets are required for that.