The National Park Service turned 100 Aug. 25, and to celebrate its centennial year Third Angle New Music in Portland commissioned three composers to write solo pieces focused on nature.

One of the composers is UO trumpet professor Brian McWhorter, who wrote a piece called “Outside In” for solo percussion. In composing it he considered the artificial boundaries that humans create — between inside and outside a park, between performer and audience, between human and natural worlds.

“I like that notion that music is in the service of a larger vision,” McWhorter said. “I wound up composing a character more than a piece, and then letting the music that results be subservient to the character.”

The concert is at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday and Friday April 6 and 7 at Studio 2 at N.E.W. in Portland.

For more, and to read about the other two composers involved, see “Nature inspires 3 Oregon composers’ works for ‘Solo Hikes’ concert” on OregonLive and in the Oregonian.

McWhorter attended the UO as an undergrad before moving to New York City’s Juilliard School, where he became known for his trumpet performances. His compositions often combine music with multimedia, such as film or images. His sole venture into sculpting resulted in a piece called “The Extract-o-rama” that was the subject of the 2013 documentary “Creativity: A New Thought Won’t Kill You.”