The music festival season kicked off last month for students at John Stark Regional High School in Weare. Several band and choral musicians attended the 20th annual Granite State Invitational Music Festival on Jan. 9 alongside students from several other New Hampshire schools. John Stark students also participated in the Chamber Festival at the University of New Hampshire on Jan. 11.

This year’s festival attendees from John Stark include Dylan Burke (Classical All-State), Eloisa Osgood (Jazz All-State), Zane Talbot (Classical All-State, All-New England), Elizabeth Westfahl (Classical All-State), Emmerson Brown (Classical All-State, Chamber festival) and Nick Tetro (Classical All-State, All-New England).

Up next for the student musicians is the Jazz All-State Festival, taking place Feb. 6-8 at Pinkerton Academy. Then, the New England Music Festival Association’s Concert Festival will be held on March 13-25 in Middletown, Connecticut. The musical season will culminate in the Classical All-State Festival in Concord on April 3-5.

Dan Williams, instrumental music director at John Stark, expressed pride in his students’ accomplishments.

“As I near the end of my teaching career, I’m seeing the fruits of many years of labor in our growing music program, an increase in the number of students from our small school who are able to make it into these festivals, and an increase in the number of students in our program who are pursuing performing arts-related fields post-high school,” Williams said.

He enjoys seeing his students thrive after graduation in various fields and says it’s a “testament to the importance of performing arts programs in creating intelligent, empathetic problem solvers able to contribute to society in a positive way.”

Rachel Wachman can be reached at rwachman@cmonitor.com