America 250: Concertmaster & Friends concert

Celebrate America’s 250th anniversary at Alabama Symphony Orchestra’s Concertmaster and Friends: America 250, an intimate chamber music concert at Canterbury United Methodist Church in Birmingham on Tuesday, October 13, 2026. Curated and led by Alabama Symphony Orchestra Concertmaster Daniel Szasz, this program brings together five of the Orchestra’s own musicians — trumpeter Nick Ciulla, violinists Daniel Szasz and Boyu Li, violist Tiantian Lan, and cellist Warren Samples — for an evening of American-themed chamber music for trumpet and strings. The program centers on Dvořák’s beloved “American” String Quartet alongside works by John Williams, Alan Hovhaness, Mark O’Connor, and others, tracing a musical portrait of the American spirit in the year of the nation’s semiquincentennial. Each season, Szasz builds a Concertmaster and Friends program around a theme and invites fellow Alabama Symphony Orchestra musicians to join him, creating a rare, up-close chamber concert distinct from a full orchestral performance. Hosted in the sanctuary at Canterbury United Methodist Church, this concert gives Birmingham audiences an intimate, small-ensemble alternative to a full Masterworks concert — chamber music straight from the players who anchor Alabama Symphony Orchestra’s string and brass sections. Whether you’re marking America 250 or simply love chamber music in Birmingham, this Concertmaster and Friends performance belongs on your fall calendar

Artists
Nick Ciulla, trumpet
Daniel Szasz, violin
Boyu Li, violin
Tiantian Lan, viola
Warren Samples, cello

Program to Include
Dvorak’s “American” string quartet, and other works by John Williams, Alan Hovhaness, Mark O’Connor, and others.