Wilder Frets: Classical Guitar in the Wilderness at Tumalo Park

Award-winning classical guitar virtuoso, Tye Austin performs Spanish and Latin American music.
About this Event

ABOUT WILDER FRETS

For our inaugural season, Wilder Frets: Classical Guitar in the Wilderness will tour across the state of Oregon from August 1–October 1, 2026. Led by classical guitar virtuoso and artistic director Tye Austin, the series replaces the traditional concert hall with immersive wilderness landscapes—including state parks, farms, ranches, wineries, hot spring resorts, and other unique locations throughout the state. Audiences experience each performance through wireless headphone technology, allowing them to move freely and explore the surrounding landscape within a quarter-mile radius as the music accompanies their wanderings through each Wilder setting.

ABOUT THIS SITE

Tumalo State Park rests along the Deschutes River just northwest of Bend, where basalt cliffs, open ponderosa pine forest, and clear river waters define a classic central Oregon landscape shaped by volcanic activity and flowing water over time. Set within the Deschutes River canyon, the park preserves a scenic stretch of riverbank where currents carve through layered lava rock and support a vibrant riparian ecosystem. Ponderosa pine, juniper, and cottonwood line the river, while shaded trails follow the water through a mix of forest and open canyon views. The Deschutes provides habitat for trout, waterfowl, and other wildlife drawn to its year-round flow. For thousands of years, this region has been home to Indigenous peoples whose lives were closely connected to the river and surrounding high desert landscapes. Today, Tumalo State Park remains a popular destination where visitors camp under the stars, fish and float the Deschutes, and experience the rugged beauty of central Oregon’s river canyon setting.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Oregon-born classical guitarist and composer Tye Austin, M.M., is the Artistic Director of Wilder Frets, a concert series that brings world-class classical guitar performances into natural wilderness settings. With ancestral ties to Franco-Spanish pirates of the Caribbean, he draws on a deep cultural connection to Spanish and Latin American repertoire, shaping his interpretations with distinctive authenticity and depth. Praised by NBC News for making “the guitar sing like it was invented only to be in his hands,” Austin is an internationally recognized virtuoso guitarist whose career includes appearances at venues such as Carnegie Hall and Royal Albert Hall, performances for global leaders at the United Nations, and international residencies and tours across Asia, Europe, and the Americas. He was also hired as the principal classical guitarist for Royal Caribbean International cruise lines. He holds a Master of Music from the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. In his spare time, he can be found surfing, fly-fishing, foraging, or skinny-dipping in geo-thermal hot springs.

WHAT YOU’LL HEAR

Classical guitar virtuoso Tye Austin will draw from the following programs at each concert, offering a different and unique selection of works for every performance.

SPANISH GUITAR REPERTOIRE

Sebastián Yradier (1809–1865)
La Paloma
Arr. Tye Austin

Francisco Tárrega (1852–1909)
Recuerdos de la Alhambra
Capricho Árabe
Endecha y Oremus

Isaac Albéniz (1860–1909)
Granada
Cádiz
Asturias
Arr. Tye Austin

Enrique Granados (1867–1916)
Danza Española
Arr. Tye Austin

Joaquín Malats (1872–1912)
Serenata Española
Arr. Tye Austin

Anonymous (19th century)
Romanza Española

Manuel de Falla (1876–1946)
Homenaje
Danza del Molinero
Canción del Fuego Fatuo

Miguel Llobet (1878–1938)
El Testament d’Amelia
Cançó del Lladre
El Noi de la Mare

Federico M. Torroba (1891–1982)
Torija
Romance de los Pinos
Madroños

LATIN AMERICAN GUITAR REPERTOIRE

Zequinha de Abreu (1880–1935)
Tico Tico no Fuba
Arr. Tye Austin

João Pernambuco (1883–1947)
Sons de Carrilhões

Agustín Barrios (1885–1944)
La Catedral

Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887–1959)
Chôros No. 1

Consuelo Velázquez (1916–2005)
Bésame Mucho
Arr. Tye Austin

Antonio Lauro (1917-1986)
Andreina
Virgilio
Natalia

Luiz Bonfá (1922–2001)
Manhã de Carnaval
Arr. Tye Austin

Jorge Morel (1931–2021)
Danza Brasileira

Leo Brouwer (b. 1939)
Danza Caracteristica
Berceuse (Cuban Lullaby)

Máximo Diego Pujol (b. 1957)
Candombe en mi

Tye Austin (b. 1989)
Tango Fumar
Bossa Floresta
Waters Willamette