When a streak of cancellations left more than 500 student musicians without a concert venue, a quick thinking Dartmouth music teacher found a solution at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.

The annual Senior Music Festival – originally scheduled for January 6 and 7 – attracts high school musicians from 85 communities south of Boston. It was first put into limbo when a pipe burst at Sharon High School, the original venue, according to music professor Tobias Monte.

The district quickly secured Oliver Ames High School in Easton as a backup venue, and the first-day rehearsals went off without a hitch. With more than a foot of snow due to fall on January 7, the second day of the festival was canceled.

That’s when Monte’s wife Charlene, a music teacher at Dartmouth Middle School and the university, had an idea: bring the festival to Dartmouth. They pitched the idea to UMass Dartmouth College of Visual and Performing Arts Chairperson Ronald Sherwin, who went to work organizing the event.

“Everyone really pitched in and gave these kids the chance to complete their festival,” Monte said.

Sherwin said attendance is expected at between 1,000 and 1,500 people. Usually, the campus spends months planning for events that large, but in this case he worked with the university police department, facilities, campus services, Conferencing and Events and music department staffers to organize the event in a matter of weeks.

“For many students, [the Senior Music Festival] is the biggest event in their lives. To have to cancel it was a big deal,” Sherwin said.

The festival is now scheduled for January 29 at the university. Rehearsals start at 8:15 a.m., and the first of five concerts – including band, orchestra, chorus, jazz and percussion – starts at 1 p.m.