MAKE MUSIC WINTER at various locations (Dec. 21). Make Music’s winter festival may not have the sprawl of its summer counterpart, but there are still 13 participatory parades and other events dotted around the city, one of around 40 involved this year. Of particular note is an eight-hour performance of Satie’s “Vexations,” a one-page work played 840 times in succession, by amateur and professional pianists under the Oculus at World Trade Center, from 10 a.m. onward.

makemusicwinter.org

[Read about the events that our other critics have chosen for the week ahead.]

‘MESSIAH’ at St. Paul’s Chapel (Dec. 20-21, 7:30 p.m., Dec. 22, 3 p.m.). Julian Wachner leads the best “Messiah” in New York City, and probably one of the best, period, with the Trinity Baroque Orchestra and the Choir of Trinity Wall Street, the singers of which also take on the solo parts. It’s a sellout, but the Saturday performance will be streamed live on Trinity’s website. For a live alternative, check out Kent Tritle conducting Musica Sacra at Carnegie Hall (Dec. 23, 7:30 p.m.)

212-602-0800, trinitywallstreet.org

NEW YORK STRING ORCHESTRA at Carnegie Hall (Dec. 24, 7 p.m.). Jaime Laredo presides over the annual Christmas Eve concert by a crop of young players brought together for a short period of intensive study. They play Mozart: the overture to “The Marriage of Figaro”; the “Jupiter” Symphony; and the Violin Concerto No. 5, with Nancy Zhou as soloist.

212-247-7800, carnegiehall.org