Our Story
The Spark
🎻 Our Story
Six years ago, our founder, Amanda Guilfoyle, performed a solo cello recital in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Listeners hiked to reach her, and as she played, the music mingled with rustling trees, circling birds, and the hush of dusk settling over the ridgeline. She hadn’t expected a crowd; nothing like this had been done in the area before. But after hiking up with her cello and the proper permits, she arrived at the overlook to find far more people than she imagined—some who had traveled hours to experience music in that specific place.
Even more touching were the hikers who paused mid-trail, listening quietly before continuing. One shared that a bear had been spotted nearby, as if the wildlife itself had gathered to witness the moment.
That evening became a defining memory in her 22-year performing career. It revealed a truth she’d always felt: music doesn’t only belong in concert halls. It belongs here — where the earth is breathing, where wind becomes part of the score, and where something ancient in all of us remembers how to listen.
That experience became the seed of Wild Notes: A movement dedicated to bringing music, listening practices, and environmental awareness into the heart of wild spaces.
🌿 Why Wild Notes Exists
Our national and state parks are among America’s greatest treasures — living landscapes full of history, biodiversity, and the sacred stillness we lose in our daily rush. But these places face growing threats from development, pollution, climate change, and disconnection.
At Wild Notes, we believe that connection is conservation.
When someone hears a cello weaving through birdsong or participates in a guided soundwalk, they don’t just appreciate nature—they feel it. They remember why the land matters. That remembering becomes care, and that care becomes stewardship.
Wild Notes exists to create these moments of reconnection through unplugged performances, guided soundwalks, educational programming, and collaborations with parks across the country.
✨ How You Can Help
You are part of this movement. Every bit of support helps bring Wild Notes to more communities and more landscapes:
🛤️ More performances and soundwalks in wild places
🎻 More people moved by the beauty of the natural world
🌎 More hearts stirred to protect the land that sustains us all
Because this isn’t just about music—it’s about what happens when we pause, listen, and make space for beauty… and then choose to protect the places where that beauty lives.
Support The Mission
Wild Notes relies on community support to make these performances possible.
Your donation helps cover travel costs, permits, outreach, and gear needed to bring classical music into natural spaces.
Give today and help us grow this mission of conservation through music.