Alabama Symphony Orchestra lightens up with ‘Levity’

Daniel Cho conducts Brahms' sunniest symphony, Bernstein's Serenade with violinist Tessa Lark, and Jessie Montgomery's Starburst at Jemison Concert Hall on Nov. 6 and 7.

Brahms' Second Symphony is the warmest of his four, and the Alabama Symphony Orchestra has built a whole program around that mood. It's called Levity, and it comes to Jemison Concert Hall at UAB's Alys Stephens Center next Friday, November 6, and again Saturday, November 7, at 7 p.m. Tickets start at $36.

Daniel Cho conducts. The program opens with Jessie Montgomery's *Starburst*, a short, bright piece for strings. Then violinist Tessa Lark joins the orchestra for Leonard Bernstein's *Serenade*. Brahms' Symphony No. 2 closes the evening.

There's also a daytime option. The ASO's Coffee Concert on Friday, November 6, at 11 a.m. pairs the Brahms with Montgomery's *Starburst*. Tickets for that one are $22 to $42.

Levity pairs Brahms' warmest symphony with Bernstein and Jessie Montgomery.

The pairings are smart. *Starburst* is one of the most-performed pieces by a living American composer, and it makes a quick, glittering curtain-raiser. Bernstein's *Serenade* is a violin concerto in all but name, inspired by Plato's *Symposium*. Each movement is named after a speaker at that famous dinner party arguing about love. It's a showcase for a soloist with personality, and Lark, a Kentucky-born violinist who moves between classical and bluegrass, brings plenty. Then the Brahms, which has some of the most generous melodies he ever wrote, sends everyone home in a good mood.

This is the orchestra at home. Our records show the ASO playing Birmingham more than any other market, which is what you'd expect from the city's orchestra. Jemison Concert Hall on the UAB campus is its main stage for Masterworks programs, and Levity is part of the ASO's 2026–27 season.

If you've been meaning to try the symphony and want an easy way in, this is it. The program runs from a modern American piece through a 20th-century American concerto to a Romantic symphony, without anything you need to study up on. The weekend evening shows are the full experience. The Friday morning Coffee Concert is a shorter, cheaper way to hear the Brahms if a night out is a stretch.

Levity is at Jemison Concert Hall, Alys Stephens Center, Friday, Nov. 6, and Saturday, Nov. 7, at 7 p.m., with a Coffee Concert Friday at 11 a.m. Tickets are through the Alys Stephens Center and the ASO.

Sources: UAB Center for the Arts: Levity (Nov 6, 2026) (alysstephens.org); Alabama Symphony Orchestra: Brahms Symphony No. 2 & Montgomery's Starburst (Coffee Concert) (alabamasymphony.org); Alabama Symphony Orchestra: 26/27 Create Your Own Experience (alabamasymphony.org); Alabama Symphony Orchestra: UAB's Alys Stephens Center, Jemison Concert Hall (alabamasymphony.org); Alabama Symphony Orchestra home (alabamasymphony.org)