Staples High School Students Set Record In Prestigious Music Program

WESTPORT, CT — The Staples High School music program recorded its highest number of student selections this year for the Connecticut Music Educators Association Western Region Music Festival, with 69 students accepted, school officials said.

The total was the largest from any single school in the Western Region, which includes more than 50 public and private high schools across Fairfield County.

The annual festival is a competitive, audition-based event that brings together about 500 student musicians from across the region. Students are evaluated on prepared musical selections, scales and sight-reading, and those selected are assigned to honors band, orchestra, choir and jazz ensembles.
Festival participants spend two days in rehearsals with guest conductors before performing in a public concert scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 17, at Wilton High School.

School officials said the number of Staples students selected has nearly doubled in recent years, a trend they attribute to increased student participation and music instruction in the Westport school system.

"Seeing this level of growth, both in numbers and musicianship, makes it clear that our music culture across all ensembles, band, chorus, and orchestra, is thriving at Staples," said Steve Zimmerman, Coordinator of Music and Visual Arts, in a statement. "These students put in the hours, and our outstanding teachers, along with our private teachers, have built a supportive environment where excellence is expected and achieved."

Students who participate in the Western Region festival are eligible to audition for the Connecticut All-State Music Festival, a statewide program for high-achieving student musicians.

— Flyer from Westport Public Schools