For most people, a classical concert means a concert hall, assigned seats and a quiet audience.
For pianist Hunter Noack, it can mean something entirely different: A grand piano set in the middle of a landscape, with audiences listening through wireless headphones as they wander through parks, public lands and open spaces.
Eleven years ago, Noack launched IN A LANDSCAPE: Classical Music in the Wild, a traveling concert series that brings classical music outdoors across the American West. Inspired by a Los Angeles performance where audience members wore headphones, he saw an opportunity to take the acoustics of a concert hall anywhere.
The concept is simple. A 1912 Steinway Model D piano is placed in the landscape, and audience members wear wireless
headphones that allow them to hear the performance wherever they choose to sit, walk or explore.
"The music becomes more of a soundtrack to their experience," Noack said.
That experience is intentionally different from a traditional concert. Rather than separating music from its surroundings, Noack embraces the sounds of nature and the environment around him.
Birdsong, wind, and even helicopters overhead become part of the performance.
The idea reflects a philosophy inspired in part by composer John Cage, whose work challenged audiences to think differently about what constitutes music. For Noack, the landscape itself becomes part of the concert.
At the heart of the project is a desire to make classical music feel more accessible.
Noack believes concert halls can sometimes feel intimidating or exclusive. By moving performances into public spaces, he hopes to create a more welcoming environment.
"I love bringing these fine arts out of spaces that can sometimes feel uncomfortable or exclusive and into what I believe are our most democratic spaces, which are our public lands and our parks," he said.
The project operates as a nonprofit organization with a mission of expanding access to music. The organization gave away roughly $100,000 in free tickets, helping ensure that more people can attend performances.
Many of those performances take place far from major cities. About 70% of these concerts are held in rural communities across the West, bringing live classical music to audiences who may not otherwise have access to it.
This year marked IN A LANDSCAPE's first performance in Los Angeles.
The Griffith Park location was chosen in part because of its connection to the Trust for Public Land, which worked to protect land surrounding the Hollywood Sign from development.
"There was a threat of development," Noack said. "They worked to protect that landscape and keep it wild."
He wanted the concert to highlight those conservation efforts and celebrate a place where people and nature continue to coexist.
For Noack, the performances are ultimately about more than music.
He sees the concerts as an opportunity for people to slow down, disconnect from daily routines and spend time outdoors.
"I feel like we have this lust for control and containment," he said. "And when we can just sit and be in a place where the spontaneity of nature is inevitable, I think that's something that's really good for us."
What he's chasing, he said, are "little glimpses of wilderness and magic."
And as audiences spread out across the landscape, watching the light change while listening through their headphones, that's exactly the experience he hopes they'll find.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: A grand piano, nature and a new way to experience classical music
