Hunter Noack Brings IN A LANDSCAPE Home to Central Oregon

Before pianist Hunter Noack began traveling the West with a 9-foot Steinway grand piano, he lived two blocks from Drake Park.

Noack spent his earliest years in Bend before his family moved to Sunriver, where the forests, lakes, volcanic terrain, and open skies of Central Oregon shaped his childhood. This August, he returns for three performances of IN A LANDSCAPE: Classical Music in the Wild™—two at East Lake on August 20 and 21, and one at Drake Park on August 22.

The concerts will place Noack and the same Steinway grand piano in two distinctly different Central Oregon settings: the expansive volcanic landscape of East Lake and Drake Park, a familiar gathering place along the Deschutes River in the heart of Bend. Audiences listen through wireless headphones and are free to sit, wander, and experience the surrounding landscape as part of the performance.

“Central Oregon is where I first learned to pay close attention to landscape—to the weather, the water, the enormous sky, and the way sound carries in open country,” said Noack. “Bringing the piano back here feels less like another tour stop and more like returning to the source of the project.”

The three performances offer two very different ways to experience IN A LANDSCAPE. Drake Park is one of the series’ most accessible settings, with paved walking paths, expansive lawns beneath towering ponderosa pines, and plenty of space to spread out a blanket and enjoy a picnic while listening to live classical music.

East Lake offers an entirely different experience. Set at East Lake Resort on the shore of East Lake in Newberry National Volcanic Monument, it is a destination that rewards a sense of adventure. Guests can listen from the shore or experience the concert from a kayak or paddleboard on the lake. With campsites just steps from the performance, the East Lake concerts offer an opportunity to turn an evening of music into a camping getaway.

The setting also has a direct connection to this year’s musical program, which includes Maurice Ravel’s Une barque sur l’océan (“A Boat on the Ocean”).

At Drake Park, Noack will be joined by Oregon Poet Laureate Ellen Waterston, who is creating a new work rooted in the Central Oregon landscape specifically for the performance. Her contribution will place poetry and piano in conversation with the Deschutes River, the park’s old trees, and the city moving around them.

Together, the two settings reflect the heart of IN A LANDSCAPE: one brings music into the center of a vibrant community, while the other invites audiences to immerse themselves in one of Oregon’s most spectacular natural environments.

Central Oregon has played an important role in the development of both Noack and IN A LANDSCAPE. Since presenting its first Central Oregon concert at The Suttle Lodge in 2017, the series has returned to sites throughout the region, including Smith Rock State Park, Prineville, Tetherow Resort, the summit of Mount Bachelor, Sunriver, and Black Butte Ranch. Three concerts at Black Butte Ranch in June opened IN A LANDSCAPE’s 2026 Central Oregon season; the August performances will bring this year’s regional total to six.

Noack’s musical roots in the region also run deep. His mother, IN A LANDSCAPE Executive Director Lori Noack, led the Sunriver Music Festival from 1998 through 2005. Hunter grew up immersed in the festival, supported by its Young Artists Scholarship program, and surrounded by the musicians who returned to Central Oregon each summer—experiences that strongly influenced his early musical life.

Now in its second decade, IN A LANDSCAPE reimagines the classical music experience by taking Noack’s 9-foot Model D Steinway to outdoor settings across the American West and Canada. Rather than separating performance from place, the series treats the surrounding weather, light, history, and natural sound as part of each concert.

The East Lake concerts are sponsored by Visit Central Oregon. The Drake Park performance is sponsored by Sue and Mike Hollern, longtime supporters who first hosted Hunter for a piano performance in their home when he was in his early teens. Their support helps keep ticket prices below the full cost of presenting the concerts and makes free Good Neighbor tickets available to people who would otherwise be unable to attend.

Tickets are $45 and may be purchased through the IN A LANDSCAPE website. A limited number of Good Neighbor tickets are available at no cost.

This story is based on submitted information and has not been verified by our news team.