KMEA All-State String Orchestra

All-State String Orchestra
Century II Concert Hall
Sat - Feb. 28, 2026 - 10:00 AM

Jim Palmer
2026 KMEA All-State String Orchestra Conductor
Recipient of the American String Teachers Association Elizabeth A. H. Green Award for a distinguished career in string teaching, James Palmer is the Orchestra Director at Allatoona High School in Acworth, Georgia, the Music Director for the Youth Orchestras of Greater Columbus in Columbus, Georgia and an editor, arranger, and featured clinician for Alfred Music. He is the Co-Author of The Sound Orchestra Full Orchestra Method Book and has published over twenty compositions for String Orchestra. Mr. Palmer has served as the Orchestra Director at Manatee High School in Bradenton, Florida; Music Department Chairman and Orchestra Director at Cypress Lake Center for the Arts in Fort Myers, Florida; and Fine Arts Department Chairman and Orchestra Director at Chattahoochee High School in John's Creek, Georgia. In addition to his teaching career, Mr. Palmer has also served as conductor with the Florida West Coast Symphony Youth Orchestra, Georgia Youth Symphony Orchestra, and former Music Director for the Tampa Bay Youth Orchestra and the Southwest Florida Symphony Youth Orchestra. Mr. Palmer's orchestras have performed at the Florida Music Educator's Conference in Tampa, the MENC Southern Division Conference in Savannah, the ASTA National Orchestra Festival in Dallas, the Midwest Clinic in Chicago, and the 2005 ASTA National Conference in Reno, Nevada.

Jim Palmer has received the Teacher of the Year Award in three separate high schools and has been inducted into the Florida Collegiate Music Educators Hall of Fame. He is a frequent clinician having conducted All State and honors orchestras in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, New York, Oregon, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Vermont. Mr. Palmer has also maintained a career as a professional violist serving as Principal Violist for the Sarasota Pops Orchestra, section violist, and substitute principal for the Southwest Florida Symphony and Chamber Orchestra as well as a freelance violist in the Atlanta area. Mr. Palmer is a member of GMEA, Past President of the Georgia American String Teachers Association, Past Chairman of the ASTA National Orchestra Festival, and is a graduate of Florida State University.

2025-26

Violin I
  1. Duane Aglano, Wichita-Northwest
  2. Isaac Player, Olathe-North
  3. Lucas Park, Overland Park-Blue Valley Northwest
  4. Pranav Gandikota, Wichita-East
  5. Aaliyah Venegas, Wichita-Southeast
  6. Gracen Dame, Manhattan
  7. Tess Goodin, Derby
  8. Adinath Sudheer, Overland Park-Blue Valley
  9. Caroline Lee, Overland Park-Blue Valley Northwest
  10. Migyelle Buentipo Ganuelas, Junction City
  11. Aidan Yang, Overland Park-Blue Valley North
  12. Fae Al Faili, Olathe-East
  13. Edwin Maitwe, Wichita-Northwest
  14. Sophia Christians, Wichita-East
  15. Addison Penner, El Dorado
  16. Ananya Pawar, Overland Park-Blue Valley Northwest
  17. Matt Wu, Overland Park-Blue Valley Northwest
  18. Yiqiao Wang, Olathe-North
  19. Sophia Lin, Wichita-East
  20. Ruth Tan, Overland Park-Blue Valley North
  21. Jemma MacNeill, Shawnee-Shawnee Mission Northwest
  22. Nadia Karapuda, Lawrence-Free State
  23. Jaydon Gonzalez, Derby
Violin II
  1. Shuyun Li, Overland Park-Blue Valley Northwest
  2. Bin Miao, Wichita-East
  3. Keshav Shivarajan, Olathe-South
  4. Katherine Medina, Basehor-Linwood
  5. Shivani Hebsur, Wichita-Collegiate
  6. Solveig Chase, Manhattan
  7. Ethan Li, Overland Park-Blue Valley North
  8. Amy Kim, Overland Park-Blue Valley West
  9. Haidan Anderson, Overland Park-Blue Valley West
  10. Chase Howerton, Overland Park-Blue Valley
  11. Fox Logan, Shawnee Mission-South
  12. Athul Prasad, Overland Park-Blue Valley West
  13. Brodie Stone, Basehor-Linwood
  14. Alexandra Dominguez, Maize-South
  15. Claire Messerli, Overland Park-Blue Valley North
  16. Lauren Bedell, Overland Park-Blue Valley
  17. Benji Wolf, Olathe-North
  18. Saathwika Anupindi, Overland Park-Blue Valley West
  19. Gabriel Ledgerwood, Overland Park-Blue Valley North
  20. Jonathan Calovich, Lawrence-Free State
  21. Quincee Jeffries, Winfield
  22. Georgia Cisar, Lenexa-St. James Academy
Viola
  1. Lily Meek, Spring Hill
  2. Louis Brown, Shawnee Mission-South
  3. Lucas Manly, Manhattan
  4. Esther Busenitz, Maize-South
  5. Ashley Edwards, Overland Park-Blue Valley West
  6. Benjamin Huser, Manhattan
  7. Aleena Legion, Shawnee Mission-West
  8. Zachary Kallman, Goddard-Eisenhower
  9. Prateek Gajjala, Overland Park-Blue Valley
  10. Carmen Cooper, Lindsborg-Smoky Valley
  11. Taylor Grant, Goddard-Eisenhower
  12. Henry Fu, Overland Park-Blue Valley Northwest
  13. Margot Bergerat, Olathe-Northwest
  14. Sienna Pearson-Fee, Wichita-Northwest
  15. Libby Kepler, Olathe-Northwest
  16. Han Chiu, Overland Park-Blue Valley Northwest
Cello
  1. Amy Keeley, Manhattan
  2. Caleb Jung, Overland Park-Blue Valley Northwest
  3. Paul Burfeind, Overland Park-Blue Valley North
  4. Thomas Troughton, Overland Park-Blue Valley Northwest
  5. Madelynn Ryan, Newton
  6. Elizabeth Whitaker, Shawnee Mission-West
  7. Ali Youssef, Bel Aire-Northeast Magnet
  8. Tiarra Johnston, Shawnee Mission-North
  9. Shea Spiess, Lawrence
  10. Oliver Zimmerman, Wichita-Northwest
  11. Raya Potter, Topeka-West
  12. Colin Thurlby, Goddard
  13. Morgan Hu, Spring Hill
  14. Laney McGill, Overland Park-Blue Valley North
  15. Miley Souriyadeth, Olathe-North
  16. Leo Roenfeldt, Lawrence-Free State
Bass
  1. Anthony Moore, Arkansas City
  2. Heidy Gomez-Calderon, Shawnee Mission-North
  3. Ella Rohe, Overland Park-Blue Valley North
  4. Ishaan Jain, Overland Park-Blue Valley Northwest
  5. Annah Steele, Lawrence-Free State
  6. George Morffi, Olathe-North
  7. Emma Lockwood, Wichita-East
  8. Claribel Gutierrez, Wichita-Northwest
  9. Emmaleah Sheehan, Shawnee Mission-South
  10. Mason Sawyer, Wichita-North
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