CLASSICAL music institutions are usually quick to seize on major anniversaries of a composer’s birth or death as a convenient programming hook. Get ready for the Wagner and Verdi bicentennial celebrations next year.

But what happened to Debussy, born 150 years ago on Wednesday in St.-Germain-en-Laye, west of Paris? His anniversary has drawn surprisingly little notice, at least from major New York institutions. Carnegie Hall, the New York Philharmonic and Lincoln Center have scheduled no special events or festivals. The Metropolitan Opera last brought back its production of “Pelléas et Mélisande” for the conductor Simon Rattle’s overdue house debut in 2010, but for just five performances.

In truth, major institutions sometimes use anniversaries as an excuse to program lots of familiar repertory, so letting Debussy’s slip by is hardly scandalous. Yet it does seem a curious oversight.

Perhaps Debussy is not considered enough of an audience draw, but I suspect that the real reason may be more complicated. We like to think we know and admire Debussy. Ah, Debussy the great Impressionist! For painting there is Monet. For music, Debussy. “La Mer,” how gorgeous. There are the inventive piano pieces, with their watery textures and evocative titles like “Estampes” and “Images.” And of course the diaphanous orchestral beauties of “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun.”