Wilder Frets: Classical Guitar in the Wilderness (Agate Beach State Park)

About Wilder Frets:

For the 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:

Agate Beach State Recreation Site stretches along Oregon’s central coast just north of Yaquina Head, where broad sandy beaches, rolling surf, and windswept bluffs form a classic Pacific Northwest shoreline shaped by ocean forces and geologic time. Named for the agates occasionally revealed after winter storms and shifting tides, the beach lies within a dynamic system shaped by marine erosion, sediment transport, and the tectonic activity of the Cascadia Subduction Zone. Persistent waves continually reshape the shore, while cool maritime air and seasonal fog support coastal grasses, shore pine, and scattered Sitka spruce along the bluffs. Offshore waters sustain seabirds, harbor seals, migrating gray whales, and diverse marine life characteristic of Oregon’s productive coastline. For thousands of years, this area has been home to Indigenous peoples, including the Yaquina, whose cultures were closely tied to the ocean and coastal resources. Today, Agate Beach remains a popular destination for walking the shoreline, watching surf and sunsets, searching for agates, and experiencing the enduring natural character of the Oregon Coast.

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.