In this week’s agenda, the focus is on contemporary music. Earlier this week, the opening concert in the Mobtown Modern contemporary music series, at the Contemporary Museum in Baltimore, prompted us to think about concerts in Washington in the same vein.

MAKE IT MODERN:
>> The Corcoran Gallery of Art has the best concert acoustic in Washington in their semicircular hall, where pioneering French pianist Benoît Delbecq will give a recital on Wednesday (September 17, 7 p.m.). His music has been described as a mixture of “ideas and techniques from contemporary, classical, jazz, Pygmy polyphony,” with the piano altered by the use of “eraser bits and carved wooden twigs.” Tickets: $25.

>> On Sunday (September 21, 4 p.m.) we will back at the Corcoran for the first concert in the series presented by the Contemporary Music Forum, now in its 35th season, featuring the Verge Ensemble. The program features music by Charles Wuorinen, Jefferson Friedman, John Drumheller, and Chinary Ung. Tickets: $20.

>> The Monday night recital (September 15, 7:30 p.m.) by this year’s Marian Anderson Award winner, Indira Mahajan, is not exclusively devoted to contemporary music. Her program at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater will feature a set of Spanish songs by Fernando Obradors and another set by André Previn. Tickets: $18.

>> Washington Musica Viva will host the New York-based ensemble the Broken Reed Saxophone Quartet on Monday night (September 15, 7:30 p.m.) in its concert at the Ratner Museum in Bethesda. Their program includes music by Tailleferre, Wilder, and Gerard. Tickets: $20.

Photo of Benoît Delbecq by Roderick Packe