PORTLAND — Guest violinist Jennifer Koh will join the Portland Symphony Orchestra to perform Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 29, at Merrill Auditorium.

The orchestra, led by PSO conductor Robert Moody, will open with Tchaikovsky’s Concerto, break for intermission, and then perform John Adams’ Doctor Atomic Symphony and Aaron Copland’s Suite from The Tender Land.

Both pieces were originally written for opera; Doctor Atomic was first performed by the San Francisco Opera and depicts the final hours leading up to the first atomic bomb test in New Mexico in 1945; The Tender Land was the first opera written for television, and was cancelled shortly after completion.

An orchestral suite based on The Tender Land was later composed by Copland during revisions to gear the opera more toward audiences at an opera house than the television audiences it was originally intended for.

Koh will perform during Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, a passionate and sentimental piece. Not well-received when it was originally released, the Concerto that was called “unplayable” in its time is now touted for its fiery originality.

The Doctor Atomic Symphony is performed in three movements, without pause. “The Laboratory,” “Panic,” and “Trinity” movements tell the story of a post-nuclear test site and the terrible electrical storm that battered it before finishing with an orchestral version of Oppenheimer’s “Batter My Heart” aria that closes Act 1 of the opera.

Copland’s Suite begins with the story of Laurie, a farmer’s daughter, who has fallen in love with a drifter. The music is tender and stirring, depicting the feelings of the young girl, before leading into The Party Scene, an upbeat folk-inspired portrayal of Laurie’s graduation and the upcoming harvest. The finale is hymn-like in nature and leaves the audience with a sense of promise for the young girl’s future.

Tickets range from $25 to $75 and are available at 207-842-0800, www.porttix.com or at the box office at 20 Myrtle St.

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