Katherine Palmer

Katherine Palmer, clarinetist and educator, enjoys a multifaceted musical career and works as a performing musician, educator, and arts administrator. Palmer plays with the Mill Ave Chamber Players and has appeared with a variety of musical groups throughout Phoenix and Arizona. Currently the curator of education at the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, she is in charge of developing and teaching sequential educational programming. Additionally, Palmer is an adjunct instructor of clarinet and music humanities at Paradise Valley Community College, a faculty associate in the Herberger Institute of Design and the Arts at ASU, and maintains a private teaching schedule.

Palmer is the executive director of Daraja Music Initiative (DMI), a non-profit organization that provides music and conservation education in Moshi, Tanzania during the summer months to primary and secondary students. Aiming to bridge the arts and sciences, DMI promotes sustainability of African Blackwood trees that clarinets – and other instruments – are constructed from.

In addition to frequent national and regional appearances, Palmer has also presented papers, workshops, and performances at international conferences for College Music Society (2013, 2017), International Clarinet Association’s ClarinetFest (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017), and International Society for Music Education (2016). Palmer completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Miami (FL) in clarinet performance with a minor in anthropology and a master's in clarinet performance at ASU. She holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts in clarinet performance and master's in ethnomusicology from ASU, as well. Her primary teachers include Anthony Ciccarelli, Margaret Donaghue, and Robert Spring.