Since 1988, scientist-musicians John Bertles and Carina Piaggio have invented and composed for orchestras of strange-looking but great-sounding musical instruments made from reused and repurposed materials.
Today, their organization Bash The Trash Environmental Arts reaches nearly 60,000 students, teachers and adults each year through their workshops, performances, festivals, and professional development sessions.
This Make Music Day, join John and Carina in raising awareness about trash pollution by building fun instruments from found objects! (If you need some strings, free used guitar strings will be sent to you upon request thanks to D’Addario’s Playback String Recycling program.) Once you’ve built your instruments, use them to play “Ode to Joy” or “Baby Shark” — your choice — and post your performances with the #BashTheTrash hashtag.
For detailed instrument building videos and instructions, and info on a live Bash The Trash session on June 21, visit our website.