Middle and high school band students in Litha and Valrico are honing their skills under the direction of husband-wife musical power duo Jordan and Sara Fraze.
Jordan Fraze is the director of bands at Bloomingdale High School in Valrico. Sara Fraze is the director of bands at Randall Middle School in Lithia. They both graduated from Florida State University (FSU) in 2022 with degrees in instrumental music education. The Frazes left college with the desire to work in the same community.
“It’s hard to find the job you really want and love because there is only one band teacher at every school. So, for us to be in the same community and have same students — that was the dream. That was what we really wanted to do- work in the same community and work together,” Sara Fraze said.
After school hours, it is not unusual for Sara Fraze to help at high school marching band rehearsals or for Jordan Fraze to be at middle school concert rehearsals. Their mutual passion for music and education is complimented by their close relationship and history of working together. They learned to balance professional responsibility and working together at Florida State University, where they were both drum majors with the FSU Marching Chiefs.
“I think we both expect the same standard of excellence out of our students. And so, if one of us walks into a rehearsal for the other, there’s a lot of reinforcement of expectations going on,” Jordan Fraze said.
Prior to becoming the directors of the programs, Sara Fraze was an FSU music education intern at Burns Middle School, which feeds into Bloomingdale, and Jordan Fraze was an intern at Bloomingdale. Sara Fraze taught the current Bloomingdale sophomores through seniors when she was an intern at Burns. Since 2024, some Randall students have been zoned for Bloomingdale. This year’s Bloomingdale band freshman class has nine of Sara Fraze’s former Randall students.
When Jordan Fraze assists Sara Fraze at Randall, being Bloomingdale’s band director is never a focus.
“I want them to stick with band, whether it’s at Bloomingdale or Newsome. I just want them to know the expectations when they get to high school. They are higher, yes, but it’s such a great opportunity for them to keep doing music wherever they go,” Jordan Fraze said.
“What I tell them is red and blue, Newsome and Bloomingdale — red and blue make purple, and we’re purple. We work really well together because red and blue make purple,” Sara Fraze said.
Jordan Fraze plays French horn and trumpet. Sara Fraze plays trombone. They both play with the Fanfare Concert Winds community band, are instructors at FSU Summer Music Camps and are Emerging Leaders with the Florida Music Education Association. Sara Fraze is the treasurer of the Hillsborough County Secondary Music Council. When not working, Jordan Fraze listens to classic rock from the ’70s or band music. Sara Fraze listens to movie soundtracks, instrumental music and her favorite band, The Beatles.
Jordan and Sara Fraze can be reached at jordan.fraze@hcps.net and sara.fraze@hcps.net.
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