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Concert at Crater Lake: Birds, views and beautiful music By Lee Juillerat Updated: Jul 14, 2022 02:29 PM A A CRATER LAKE NATIONAL PARK — The setting Wednesday was Discovery Point, where nearly 170 years ago a prospector seeking gold found instead the surreal, cerulean waters of Crater Lake. Above the lake, nature was at play. Golden-mantled ground squirrels scampered along the rock walls, seeking treats. Two young Clark’s nutcrackers perched on lodgepole pine tree branches squawked in staccato synchronicity, suddenly joined by a third. At play, too, was Hunter Noack, bent over his 9-foot Steinway piano set atop a flatbed trailer, performing classical music by composers such as Claude Debussy, Franz Liszt and Frederic Chopin. Called “In A Landscape: Classical Music in the Wild,” the performance lived up to its name. Listening and watching were more than 100 people. Most had made special trips for the concert; others were park visitors who paused their travels to listen. During Wednesday’s late afternoon performance — another sold-out concert was scheduled for 5 p.m. Thursday — three of those surprised travelers were Pacific Crest Trail thru-hikers who happily took an unexpected pause for the nearly hour-and-a-half musical interlude. “Amazing!” one of the trio of backpackers glowingly summarized when, after the music ended, she and her two companions hefted their loads to resume their northward journey. “What a delightful surprise.” Delightful it was, in more than just the music. In between selections, Noack discussed the composers, the stories he thinks the music tells, as well as his thoughts on how the settings for his performances influence him and his listeners. Looking at the lake, he asked, “What water could be more seductive?” In appreciating the setting — the lake, its waters shaded by passing overhead clouds — he quietly pronounced, “We need beauty as well as bread.” Since 2016, “In A Landscape” has presented 145 concerts, mostly throughout the Pacific Northwest, with more than 60 this year in Montana, California, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming and Oregon. On Friday, Noack and his Steinway were scheduled to perform at Newberry National Volcanic Monument, followed by shows Sunday, Monday and Wednesday in Bend, and Friday in Sisters. He’ll visit Eastern Oregon Sept. 3 and 4 for performances at Fort Rock State Natural Area. As at other performances, listeners are provided with headphones and encouraged to wander and listen to the music while experiencing the setting. At Crater Lake, for some, that meant finding shade under trees or hiking a section of the Rim Trail to a panoramic overlook of Wizard Island, Llao Rock, Garfield Peak, Mount Scott or the lake itself, a living landscape that is too beautiful to be real. As has become tradition, for another type of experience, for two selections audiences were urged to step onstage and crawl under the piano. The music included Debussy’s “Gardens in the Rain,” Chopin’s “Ballade No. 1 in G Minor,” Fredric Rzewski’s “Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues,” Fazil Say’s “Black Earth, “Robert Schumann’s “Butterflies” and a pleasurable performance of Franz Rachmaninoff’s “Piano Concerto No. 2.” As learned at other of Noack’s concerts, it’s not necessary to appreciate classical music to enjoy the music. Especially In a landscape like Crater Lake. Reach freelance writer Lee Juillerat at [email protected] or 541-880-4139.