By Molly Sheridan

INSTITUTE & FESTIVAL OF CONTEMPORARY PERFORMANCE

MON.-SUN., JUNE 14-20

AMERICAN MUSIC FESTIVAL 2004

WEDS.-SUN., JUNE 16-20

2004 JVC JAZZ FESTIVAL NEW YORK

TUES.-SAT., JUNE 15-26

THERE ARE NO fewer than three huge music festivals in the city this week, and all I can say is thank god I'm leaving town. I have enough trouble deciding between shows under normal circumstances.

The Institute & Festival of Contemporary Performance at the Mannes College of Music kicked off its inaugural year Monday, with events running through this weekend. For hardcore aficionados of the academic contemporary scene, a plethora of lectures and master classes are open to spectators in the afternoon and early evening (get in free with a concert ticket purchase). There's also a nightly concert offering that runs the stylistic gamut, with no uptown/downtown divide evident, with work by composers such as Philip Glass, Alvin Curran, Eric Moe, George Perle, Salvatore Sciarrino and Mario Davidovsky—and that's just Wednesday. Thursday's concert includes a personal favorite, Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time, and Friday sees a premiere by Albert Carbonell, plus work by Lee Hyla, Keeril Makan, John Luther Adams and John Zorn. The weighty series closes Sunday night with an all-Charles Wuorinen concert complete with pre-show chat with the man himself.

The American Composers Alliance is presenting its second-annual American Music Festival. The lineup includes 20 living composers, with concerts conveniently broken down by type—quartet, large chamber, young composers, piano, electronic, music and words—plus a special Friday program devoted to American maverick Henry Cowell. There's depth to each of the eight programs. In addition to Cowell, names like John Eaton, Margaret Fairlie-Kennedy, Beata Moon and Richard Einhorn jump out at me, but that's just a random sampling. Check the ACA website for complete details.

This being sweeps-week for music, the 2004 JVC Jazz Festival encompasses nearly 60 shows at 17 venues. The event showcases marquee names like Ornette Coleman, Abbey Lincoln, Lou Reed, Diane Reeves, João Gilberto, the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra (here again, the list just keeps going and going). If you're out of cash at this point, there's also a schedule of free lunchtime concerts at Bryant Park.

Institute & Festival of Contemporary Performance, Mannes College of Music, 150 W. 85th St. (betw. Columbus & Amsterdam Aves.), 212-580-0210, x285, concerts $20, $10 st., lectures and master classes $10.

American Music Festival, Flea Theater, 41 White St. (betw. Church St. & B'way), 212-362-8900,$15, $10 st.

JVC Jazz Festival New York, multiple venues, 212-501-1390, $15-$85, festivalproductions.net.