Educators Toolkit
Curriculum Connections: Music, Science, Ecology, Language Development, Listening/Communication Skills,
& Visual & Performing Arts
Dear Educator:
Class Acts performances are provided as a public service of the Sampson CenterStage Performing Arts Series, the Sampson County Exposition Center, and the County of Sampson. Class Acts performances are totally funded and underwritten through the financial contributions of many businesses, corporations, civic organizations, and individuals from across Sampson County and are provided FREE to students in Clinton City Schools and Sampson County Schools.
The study guides provided and information below are designed to aid in preparing students for a educational and exciting performance. We encourage you to make use of these valuable resources designed to not only enhance each student’s theater-going experience; but to also complement their total educational experience.
Billy Jonas Trio
Tuesday, April 25, 2023
Grade Level Time
3rd Grade 10:00 am
4th Grade 1:00 pm
Billy Jonas believes that creating a bright future starts with kids. Using homemade and recyclable "re-percussion" instruments, songs that celebrate community, as well as personal and planetary ecology, his think-outside-the-box educational performances occur at schools, colleges, universities and libraries around the country. Billy’s goal is to plant musical seeds, that will help grow creative, open-minded, engaged and open-hearted citizens of the world.
Some ask: "What is the sound of one hand clapping?" Billy Jonas asks: “What is the sound of 600 sets of keys jingling on the downbeat? And how shall we inspire the audience to do it?” For 25 years, Billy Jonas, performer, singer-songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist, and educator, has perfected the art of the neo-tribal hootenanny around the globe - original songs performed with a generous dose of audience participation. Jonas and his band perform using voice, guitar, and industrial re-percussion - homemade creations of buckets and barrels, keys and cans, bells and body percussion. Each concert is a soul-spelunking, heart healing, joy-filled journey of spirited music that is accessible to anyone and everyone, regardless of age or cultural background.
Billy developed his craft in the late 1980‘s as a founding member of the Oberlin College Big Bang Theory performance art collective. He refined things further in Chicago during monthly “Bangalong with Billy” shows at the No Exit Cafe, and subsequently in the 1990‘s as a co-founder (with Bill Melanson) of the funky folk duo The Billys. He currently tours with The Billy Jonas Band, which was honored with an invitation to perform at the White House in 2010.
Jonas has received numerous honors and awards, including an American Federation of Independent Musicians 1st place/Gold, multiple Parents' Choice Golds, and a New York Times “Best” listing. Billy Jonas has shared stages with many renowned artists, including Alison Krauss, Peter Yarrow, Keb' Mo', Mary Chapin Carpenter, Kathy Mattea, Paul Winter, Michele Shocked, Justin Bieber, Ani DiFranco, David Wilcox, Richard Thompson, and Pete Seeger.