The news this week in classical music is the major concerts being offered by the area’s symphony orchestras, as well as a large number of concerts that you can hear for free.

BIG GUNS:

Yuja Wang, pianist

>> One of the most exciting young pianists on the scene today, Yuja Wang, will make her debut with the National Symphony Orchestra this week (February 19 to 21). She will not be playing the new concerto by Jennifer Higdon, abandoned by Lang Lang two years ago now and apparently still not ready, but Prokofiev’s second concerto. On the basis of her Terrace Theater recital last year, as well as her two outings with the Baltimore Symphony (in the first Liszt concerto and the first Prokofiev concerto), there will be fireworks aplenty. To seal the deal, one of the finest conductors, Charles Dutoit, will be at the podium, also leading works by Ravel and Stravinsky. Not to be missed.

>> Don’t count out collegiate orchestras — check out the program offered by the University of Maryland Symphony and Choirs at the Clarice Smith Center on Saturday (February 21, 8 p.m.): Elliott Carter’s Holiday Overture, Lili Boulanger’s De Profundis, Richard Strauss’s Death and Transfiguration, and Anton Bruckner’s Te Deum. Plus the proceeds from ticket sales go to the university’s undergraduate scholarship fund, to help future generations of musicians. Tickets: $30 (students, $7).

>> Finally, Marin Alsop will conduct the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra on Thursday (February 19, 8 p.m.) in the Music Center at Strathmore. The program combines two symphonies, Mozart’s no. 29 and the Saint-Saëns Organ-Symphony, with The Unanswered Question by Charles Ives as introduction.