The 29th annual Sunflower Music Festival returns to Washburn University’s White Hall this weekend, bringing with it musicians from the Lawrence region and across the globe.

The festival, which kicks off Friday and runs until June 13 in the Topeka venue, will include 10 concerts of classical, chamber and jazz music.

Carole Hawkins, the festival’s coordinator, says many of the musicians — recruited by festival founder and artistic director Charles Stegeman — are frequent returnees, with some going back two decades or more.

“I think it’s the pleasure of being able to perform great music with great musicians. They have their own little social club,” says Hawkins, adding that each year is like a reunion for the festival’s returners. “I’ve never known one musician who was involved and invited back who didn’t come.”

It’s Atrium Quartet’s fourth year at the Sunflower Music Festival. The group, hailing from St. Petersburg, Russia, will perform string quartets by Debussy, Shostakovich and Beethoven at 7:30 p.m. June 7.

They’re just one of many international acts who have graced the festival stage over the years, Hawkins says.

Closer to home, Kansas University professors Sarah Frisof and Margaret Marco will also return to the festival this week. Marco, an associate professor of oboe, and Frisof, an assistant professor of flute, will perform in chamber orchestras and ensembles in addition to coaching the woodwind quartet in a performance of the Blanche Bryden Institute’s high-school attendees at 3 p.m. June 13.

The workshop, which attracts high-school and college students from within the state and nationwide, has been a staple of the Sunflower Music Festival for more than 20 years.

“We learned that 57 percent of all the people who performed as kids [in the Blanche Bryden Institute] is now involved professionally in the music world, whether as an administrator in a music department or performing in orchestras or bands,” Hawkins says. “I think that’s a great testament to all of the coaches we’ve had over the years.”

Also on Hawkins’ radar: “lots of piano.” A Rachmaninoff duet at 7:30 p.m. June 6 between Cynthia Raim and Kansas University alumnus David Allen Wehr, both on piano, should be one of the highlights, she says.

In another of the festival’s high-profile acts, Sean Jones, a four-year Sunflower participant and chair of the Berklee School of Music’s brass department, will lead (on trumpet) his quartet in an evening of jazz at 7:30 p.m. June 8.

Hawkins advises folks to arrive early to the concerts, as seating is available on a first-come basis. Audience members will have the opportunity to informally interact with musicians after the concerts in “TalkBack” sessions.

As always, the festival is free and open to the public. For a complete schedule, visit www.sunflowermusicfestival.org.