Jessie Montgomery is the playwright behind “L.E.S. Characters.” (photo courtesy of Jiyang Chen Photography)

Music director Jaime Martín leads Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra in the West Coast premiere of Jessie Montgomery’s “L.E.S. Characters,” a LACO co-commissioned viola concerto written for and featuring her childhood friend, Grammy Award-winning violist Masumi Per Rostad on April 22, at 8 p.m. at UCLA’s Royce Hall, and April 23 at 7 p.m. at Glendale’s Alex Theatre. The program, embracing Earth Day and the great outdoors, is bookended by Ives’ Pulitzer Prize-winning Symphony No. 3, “The Camp Meeting,” and Beethoven’s joyful Symphony No. 6 in F major, “Pastoral.”

L.E.S. Characters offers a different perspective on what it means to be outside, vividly recreating the gritty East Village of 1980s New York City, where Montgomery and Rostad both grew up and studied music together.

Rostad, raised in an artist loft converted from a garage with a 1957 Chevy Belair as the remnant centerpiece in his family’s living room, began studying music at the Third Street Music School Settlement in New York City, when he was three years old. He has gone on to become one of the world’s most in demand soloists, chamber musicians, and teachers. In addition to maintaining an active performance and teaching schedule, the Japanese-Norwegian violist regularly tours internationally and performs at many of the most prominent festivals, including Marlboro, Spoleto USA, and the Aspen Music Festival.

Royce Hall is located at 340 Royce Drive. The Alex Theatre is located at 216 North Brand Blvd. For tickets ($32 – $142) and information, please visitlaco.org or call (213)221-3920.