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Burlington High School
​Music Staff

Billy Ray Poli, Lead Teacher

Billy Ray Poli is the Choral Director at Burlington High School. He conducts the Concert Chorus, and Senior Chorus, and Vermont Voices, Burlington High School’s select auditioned group. He also teaches Intro and AP Music Theory and Piano I and II.  He is also the Conductor for the Vermont Youth Chorale (grades 6-8) for the Vermont Youth Orchestra Association. He also is the Music Director for the Musical. Billy Ray moved to Vermont in summer of 2013 and began his teaching career at Chelsea Public School, where he taught K-12 Music for two years, and served as the Theater Director as well. In his second year of teaching he also took on being the Theater Director at the South Royalton School, and was named Musical Director for the Chandler Youth Summer Productions at the Chandler Music Hall located in Randolph, Vermont. Billy Ray graduated from the University of Rhode Island as a double major in both vocal performance and music education. During his time in Rhode Island he competed both at the state, and regional level, and preformed as a guest performer in many of Opera Providence’s productions. Since moving to Vermont he has focused on his teaching career and has been the conductor for many honors festival choirs around the state.He also has preformed in some regional choirs such as, Thetford Chamber Singers, Barn Arts Chorale and Bel Canto.

Education 
University of Rhode Island
Bachelors in Vocal Performance Spring 2012
​
University of Rhode Island
Bachelors in Music Education Fall 2012

Southern New Hampshire University Masters of Education Spring 2017  

Kathleen Kono 

Kathleen Kono is the String and Symphonic Orchestra teacher at Burlington High School.  Kathleen also conducts the Presto and Prelude! Orchestras at the Vermont Youth Orchestra Association, teaches strings to all 3rd, 4th and 5th graders at the Integrated Arts Academy in Burlington and holds a private Suzuki violin and viola studio.
Originally from Atlanta, Georgia and Austin and Corpus Christi Texas, Kathleen attended Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music receiving her Bachelor of Music degree then attending The University of Texas at Austin graduating with a Masters of Music degree. She has been the Director of Orchestras at Deerpark Middle School in Round Rock, Texas where she was named Teacher of the Year. Kathleen also taught at Hamlin Middle School and Ray High School in Corpus Christi, Texas where she was also named Teacher of the Year for the Ray High School Campus and was a Semi-Finalist for Teacher of the Year in the Corpus Christi School District.
Besides teaching, Kathleen performs with the Burlington Chamber Orchestra where she served on the Musician’s Committee and is their music librarian. She also is an active parent in the Vermont Suzuki Violin Program and a parent of two VSV and VYOA musicians. 

Education 
Vanderbilt University
Bachelors in Violin Performance, Spring 1995


The University of Texas in Austin
Masters in Music with a concentration in String Pedagogy Literature and Performance, Spring 2000

Suzuki Association of Americas
Registered Teacher Levels 1, 2, and 3
Summer 2015, 2016, 2017

Clayton Hamilton 

Clayton Hamilton is the Band Director at Burlington High School. He has his Bachelor of Music in Education from Houghton College, where he was the principal saxophonist and President for the Symphonic Winds, the Baritone Saxophone player for their Jazz Band and Saxophone Quartet, and winner of the Concerto Competition his senior year, where he performed David Maslanka's Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Wind Ensemble. After studying at Houghton, Clayton was accepted with scholarship to the New England Conservatory of Music where he received his Master of Music in Saxophone Performance. At NEC, Clayton has performed with their Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Winds, but his more notable performances included performing with the NEC Philharmonic in Romeo and Juliet by Sergei Prokofiev, winning the Chamber Ensemble competition with the NEC Honors Saxophone Quartet, and commissioning and performing the world premiere of Philip Glass' Concerto for Saxophone Quartet and Wind Ensemble. In February of 2014, Clayton was invited back to Houghton to perform a solo saxophone recital, and to play Jacques Ibert's Concertino da Camera with the Houghton Philharmonic. Clayton has been the Band Director at Rising Tide Charter Public School, where he built the program from the ground up, and at Falmouth High School in MA, where he has had numerous students accepted into regional and state level festivals.

Education
Houghton College
Bachelor of Music in Education, Spring 2010

New England Conservatory
Master of Music in Saxophone Performance, Spring 2012


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