Longtime A2SO concertmaster Aaron Berofsky takes the stage to perform Mendelssohn’s sparkling and virtuosic Violin Concerto, a work that established a central place in the repertoire from its very first performance and a definitive musical statement of the early Romantics.

Music Director Earl Lee directs Bartók’s powerful, propulsive, and captivatingly approachable Concerto for Orchestra, a commission that allegedly so inspired the leukemia-stricken composer that he immediately checked himself out of the hospital to begin writing. The program also explores themes of life, nature, and self-expression with Alabama-born Brian Nabors’ Pulse for Orchestra, and University of Michigan alumnus Gala Flagello’s Vitality.