
BUILDING, PERFORMING & EDUCATING WITH MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS MADE FROM TRASH SINCE 1991

SCHOOL PERFORMANCES AND WORKSHOPS
SCHOOL PERFORMANCES
LIVE
SUSTAINABLE SOUNDS - IN-PERSON
For 30+ years Sustainable Sounds has been our most popular indoor/outdoor program. Three performers using amazing musical instruments created from trash make connections to science, music, and sustainability - it’s STEAM in action! The program is always fast, funny and age-appropriate. Students learn how to build their own instruments while discovering the science behind them. Throughout the show we incorporate timely and important information about Plastic Pollution and Climate Change, and how students can get involved in the fight for our planet. Go hands-on with grade-wide or school-wide Follow-Up Building Workshops! - One Show: $1,860 - Two Back-to-back Shows: $2,275 - Travel Fee May Apply - Suitable for Follow-Up Workshops!

LIVE
GLOBAL BASH - IN-PERSON
Global Bash brings different cultural heritages together to create new and beautiful art, while still respecting and celebrating tradition. Your students will meet three Bash the Trash performers, each from a unique cultural background using a variety of instruments. Through participatory song and personal history students learn about each of those cultures - and then watch as the performers weave a brand-new musical piece that draws upon all their traditions. We want kids to see that music is a language that has the power to bring people together - a message of unity we hope they will take with them. - One Show: $1,860 - Two Back-to-back Shows: $2,275 - Travel Fee May Apply - Suitable for Follow-Up Workshops!

LIVE
FOUND SOUND SCIENCE - IN-PERSON
Take a deeper dive into Music, Science and the Environment! Found Sound Science brings three amazing performers playing a clutter of found-object instruments to your school. Students embark on a journey of discovery through sound, vibrations and energy; exploring the secret life of musical instruments and how they work. Using trash as a resource opens a discussion about sustainability and responsibility. This STEAM program is great as a stand-alone performance, or as a follow-up to any of our shows. Go hands-on with Follow-Up Building Workshops! - One Show: $1,860 - Two Back-to-back Shows: $2,275 - Travel Fee May Apply - Suitable for Follow-Up Workshops!

LIVE
TRASHAGANZA! - IN-PERSON
Trashaganza is Bash the Trash’s “swiss army knife” of performances. Great on a school stage or gym floor; fantastic as an outdoor performance? Trashaganza brings three performers with amazing instruments, fun interactive songs, cool science, and timely environmental messaging about plastic pollution and climate change. Kids love to see how to build the oil can guitar, diddley bow, water cooler drums and styrolin among other strange and weird instruments. Each show ends with an uplifting segment encouraging students to get involved in the struggle to save our planet. - One Show: $1,860 - Two Back-to-back Shows: $2,275 - Travel Fee May Apply - Suitable for Follow-Up Workshops!

VIRTUAL
SUSTAINABLE SOUNDS - VIRTUAL
Sustainable Sounds is far and away our most popular virtual program. Rooted in the live version running for 30+ years, we’ve upped the engagement level by adding a baked-in in-school instrument-building component that’s fun for students… and easy on teachers! Three live performers show students how to build their own instruments while using all their senses to discover the science behind them. Throughout the show we incorporate timely and important information about the fight against Plastic Pollution and Climate Change, and how students can get involved; finally culiminating in the fun and noisy Thing Jam! - One show: $1,595 - Two back-to-back shows: $1,975 - Suitable for Follow-Up Workshops!

VIRTUAL
GLOBAL BASH - VIRTUAL
Global Bash brings different cultural heritages together to create new and beautiful art, while still respecting and celebrating tradition. You’ll meet three Bash the Trash performers, each from a unique cultural background using a variety of instruments. Through participatory song and personal history your students will learn about each of those cultures - and then watch as the performers weave a brand-new musical piece that draws upon all their traditions. We want students to see that music is a language that has the power to bring people together - a message of unity that we hope they will take with them. - One show: $1,595 - Two back-to-back shows: $1,975 - Suitable for Follow-Up Workshops!

VIRTUAL
LATIN AMERICAN JOURNEYS - VIRTUAL
This show takes students on a virtual journey through Latin America: From the pampas of Argentina, up through the coast of Peru, to the Venezuelan llanos, and ending in the festive city of Rio De Janeiro. Our three amazing live performers - all professional musicians originally from South America - will help students discover the different instruments, rhythms, melodies and languages that make this region of the world so unique. Most importantly, we’ll show how music is a true celebration of our beautiful cultural diversity! - One show: $1,595 - Two back-to-back shows: $1,975 - Suitable for Follow-Up Workshops!

VIRTUAL
BTT LOST AT SEA - VIRTUAL
Take a virtual voyage exploring environmental issues endangering our oceans! Featuring our strange and wonderful musical instruments built from reused materials, our three live performers take students on an online high seas journey in which they’ll encounter floating trash, macro and microplastics, and ocean-spanning garbage patches. Baked-in instrument-building activities are included for maximum engagement. This program opens up a conversation about the future of our oceans in a safe and age-appropriate manner for students elementary through middle school. Zoom (highly encouraged) or YouTube Live only. - One show: $1,595 - Two back-to-back shows: $1,975 - Suitable for Follow-Up Workshops!

SCHOOL WORKSHOPS
LIVE/VIRTUAL
INSTRUMENT-BUILDING WORKSHOPS
Reinforce nearly any of our performances with fun and immersive hands-on instrument-building in the classrooms! Students bring their own repurposed recyclable materials (using our provided materials list to keep it safe…) and then create a classroom orchestra. Grade-level workshops can happen on the same day as a performance - each performer works individually in classrooms - or we can return for subsequent days to visit all the classes in a school. Each 45-minute classroom workshop with a solo presenter $240. Must be preceded by a BTT performance program. Virtual and live formats available. - Mini-show: $895 - Workshops: $240 each - Travel Fee May Apply

LIVE/VIRTUAL
THE EXPERIMENTAL ORCHESTRA
This grade-level immersion program is a complete STEM-to-STEAM experience: a mini-show with a single performer, followed by intensive in-class hands-on instrument-building workshops where students apply their new knowledge. Extend the residency to include literacy connections, musical composition, and invented notation. Many schools ask us to return to work with the same grade-level in subsequent years to ensure that all students receive the science, musical and environmental content over time. Aligns with NEXTGEN science standards. Virtual and live formats available. - Mini-show: $895 - Workshops: $240 each - Travel Fee May Apply

LIVE/VIRTUAL
CROSS-CURRICULAR RESIDENCIES
In a Bash the Trash Residency (4-22+ sessions) students work with highly experienced teaching artists to build an array of musical instruments, then compose and perform with their new creations. We challenge students to use problem-solving, applied knowledge, and community/cooperative skills to build - and compose for - their classroom orchestra. Planning sessions with teachers ensure strong curricular connections to literacy, math, science, culture, and the environment. Each 45-minute classroom workshop with one presenter $240; min 3/day; max 5/day - Mini-show: $895 - Workshops: $240 each - Minimum 3/day: Maximum 5/day - Travel Fee May Apply

VIRTUAL
SCIENCE OF SOUND
This is a virtual workshop designed to complement the 1st and 4th Grade NYS and NexGen Science Learning Standards in Sound. In this fun and engaging 45” workshop a solo teaching artist takes students on a journey of discovery about sound. Hands-on in-class instrument-building (using the simplest of recyclable materials) is included for maximum engagement; and amazing video demonstrations reinforce what students are hearing - and feeling - from their instruments. The program culminates in either the “Thing Jam” in which students play their instruments along with BTT performers, or a lively Q&A session. - $220 per workshop - Model 1 - individual workshops per class - Model 2 - one class $220, then additional classes can join that session for $55 each























We have a wide range of flexible and scaleable school assemblies, workshops and school residencies with connections to science, sustainability and music. Children have a natural curiosity about musical instruments and how they work, and we empower this curiosity with our simple design concepts and readily-available materials to build a powerful engine for creative learning.
Our school assemblies and programs are designed to be modular, so we can mix-and-match components to create a program tailored to your needs.
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STEM to STEAM lessons on engineering, music and the environment
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School assembly performances, hands-on workshops, residencies and family programs
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Flexible, scalable and topical
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Stand-alone programs available as well as multi-year programs
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Veteran musicians with a proven track record of reliability
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Long-term experience working in and with schools for almost 30 years
You may also want to check out our Concerts & Events page for additional events that may work
with your school.
Don't see what you are looking for? Contact us! We will brainstorm with you to create a unique event - from a solo show to a eco-festival!