Bio : In A Landscape

A musical experience like no other, IN A LANDSCAPE: Classical Music in the Wild™ unites the wonder of nature and pure impact of music to transform the way we perceive and care for the world around us. Since founding the nonprofit concert series in 2016, classical pianist Hunter Noack has brought a 1912 Steinway grand piano on a trailer to mountaintops, deserts, old-growth forests, and beaches across the U.S. and Canada. Concertgoers are given wireless headphones and encouraged to explore their surroundings throughout the performance. Known for appealing to city dwellers, ruralites, classical music aficionados, and first-time listeners alike, IN A LANDSCAPE ultimately transcends the typical concert paradigm and—in turn—reveals that what unites us is truly stronger than what divides us. 

Over the years, IN A LANDSCAPE has grown from nine concerts in 2016 to a current average of 50 annual events. To date, the series has presented more than 300 concerts to over 75,000 people and traveled as far as New York and the Canadian province of Alberta, with Noack often performing in immensely challenging conditions (e.g., atop the 9,068-foot-high Mount Bachelor in Oregon, at a Montana ranch on a midwinter night when the temperature dropped below zero). Designated a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, IN A LANDSCAPE has a mission to make their experiences accessible. To that end, they fundraise and write grants to keep ticket prices affordable and give away over $100,000 in free tickets per year. They also routinely partner with major organizations like The Trust for Public Land (TPL) to add another dimension of purpose to individual performances—including, for example, a 2024 concert held at Yellowstone National Park in order to spotlight TPL’s work in converting an abandoned railroad corridor into a community trail for local residents. As part of its efforts to foster a deeper relationship with the land, the series features special guests (such as tribal elders, visual artists, dancers, poets, and musicians), all of whom enhance the audience’s emotional and sensory experience through their own distinct forms of storytelling.
    
Originally from the small town of Sunriver, Noack discovered his passion for classical music as a child thanks to his mother, Lori Noack (a pianist, newspaper editor, and nonprofit professional).  She started Hunter at the piano when he was four years old, and he was a shy but eager learner. From there, he went on to study oboe, violin, and saxophone, later enrolling at Interlochen Arts Academy (the country’s premier arts boarding school) and training at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s preparatory division. After receiving his bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern California and master’s from London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Noack returned to Oregon and began conceptualizing a performance series that would remove classical music from the confines of the concert hall. “Throughout high school and college, my favorite people were the theater kids—and the most transformational experiences were immersive theater plays and backpacking trips,” he says. “I revere the great concert halls of the world, but sometimes feel trapped by the seat. I am drawn to immersive theater and music around the campfire—both settings where the environment is a big part of the experience and the audience has more choices in terms of how they participate.” 

With the help of a grant from Portland’s Regional Arts & Culture Council, Noack soon organized IN A LANDSCAPE’s first round of concerts, mining inspiration from the Works Progress Administration’s (WPA) Federal Music and Theatre Projects—a Depression-era program that hosted free concerts and plays in parks and public spaces across the nation. “The WPA’s Federal Music and Theater Projects brought the fine arts out of the buildings that some find uncomfortable, and into our most democratic spaces—our public lands,” says Noack. As IN A LANDSCAPE increased its reach, Noack joined forces with philanthropist Jordan D. Schnitzer, who helped to fulfill his vision of taking the very same piano used at Carnegie Hall and traveling to the remote deserts, forests, and mountaintops of the West. “It would be easier and cheaper for us to use a small piano or even a keyboard, but I wanted to play on the best piano in the world, because both the music and the landscape deserve the best,” he explains. “Plus, it had to be built to withstand the intense conditions on the road. The nine-foot Steinway & Sons Model D hits the mark beautifully.”

In curating the program for IN A LANDSCAPE, Noack seeks to uphold a sense of majesty while allowing plenty of room for quiet contemplation and free-spirited play. “The goal is to create an arc of experience, in which some pieces command more attention and others might inspire people to look inward,” he says. “I play what I love, but also consider that not everyone has the same relationship to classical music that I do—many are listening for the very first time.” For that reason, Noack often offers guidance to concertgoers, sometimes providing specific instructions on how to feel a particular piece. “‘Reflections in the Water’ by the French composer Claude Debussy is the perfect soundtrack for watching the light dance through the water, and during this piece I ask the audience to dip their toes in the water,” he says. “Other pieces are best experienced wandering slowly through the landscape or right up close to me, lying onstage under the piano to feel its vibrations. Bringing pleasure to more of our senses transforms the way we listen, and has a magical way of grounding us in the present moment.”

With a rich history of drawing a diverse audience, IN A LANDSCAPE continually cultivates a profound feeling of togetherness among attendees, proving that music and nature have the power to unite people across all walks of life. “Just as Thomas Moran painted scenes of Yellowstone and Yosemite to help Congress understand their significance and advocate for their protection, Hunter Noack does this for the public with his outdoor concert series, IN A LANDSCAPE: Classical Music in the Wild,” says Charles F. Sams III (Cayuse and Walla Walla), 19th Director of the National Park System (2021-2025). “His performances connect people with these treasured landscapes, fostering support and enthusiasm for their continued stewardship.”

With its 2025 program including a number of nighttime concerts within dark-sky preserves (i.e., areas that restrict light pollution), IN A LANDSCAPE makes a point of partnering with conservation groups and companies that span the political spectrum but hold a common interest in the stewardship of natural resources. And as the series continues to expand into new locations, Noack aims to integrate a variety of disciplines (astronomy, geology, history, etc.) to create an even more immersive and illuminating event. “The more we understand our context in our world and with each other, the stronger and more beautiful we’ll become,” he says.