Missouri Music Educators Association and Conference (MMEA) has invited our school’s Advanced Orchestra to perform at their event for the first time ever in January 2026. This event is where orchestras around the state have the opportunity to perform in front of other music educators and judges.
Orchestra director, Annie Honeycutt, and her students have already been hard at work to ensure that they are able to give their best performance when the time comes.
The application process for MMEA has been proven very difficult. In May of 2025, Honeycutt submitted a recording of the Advanced Orchestra’s performance at their spring concert to a panel of judges. About one hundred orchestras applied, and only four qualified to perform at the event.
“This means that Kickapoo has one of the top orchestras in the state,” Honeycutt said.
Not only are the chances of qualifying already extremely low, but each group can only apply for MMEA every four years. This means that students only have one opportunity to perform at this event in their high school career, making it even more special for the students that get to participate.
Though each student has been working hard individually, they have also been working to coordinate as a group. This has brought the musicians a new level of appreciation for each other.
“I am excited for this opportunity for my group. It is not just about my accomplishments, I think of it more as a group effort because everybody is participating and working hard,” sophomore violinist Sofia Zamora said.
Due to the extravagance of this event, advanced orchestra has been working nonstop to prepare.
“I have many tasks such as getting group pictures, selecting and buying music, and making the program. In rehearsal, we have already started working on our music,” Honeycutt said.
This preparation is happening on top of rehearsing for the fall concert, and working on their mandated music technique such as scales and site reading. The students have been keeping busy, further showing their commitment to their art.
Through the stressful times of preparing for MMEA, Advanced Orchestra students are rising to the challenge and putting in the work for this event, with the goal of making themselves and their school proud.
