It’s the final countdown to Ducks football season and the students who bring the hype and the beats to Autzen Stadium are gearing up! The Oregon Marching Band (OMB) is heading into band camp in a few weeks, and behind the scenes, athletic bands administrative coordinator, Anna Frazer, will make sure it goes off without a hitch. Then, it is showtime on September 16th as OMB cheers on the Ducks when they take on Hawaii.
“Oftentimes when they're performing, you can see the pride on their faces, and I get to share in that pride,” Frazer said. “They get a lot of joy from being in the band and the people they get connected with. They gain so much from it, and it is very rewarding to see.”
The Ducks score a touchdown! Frazer (bottom right) celebrates with the band
A musician herself, Frazer played clarinet and sang in the choir growing up in San Diego. She moved to Eugene for the University of Oregon School of Music and Dance’s (SOMD) music education program and graduated with a bachelor’s and master’s degree.
So drawn to Oregon, she decided to follow her heart and stay in the state following graduation. “It just felt too much like home to leave!” she said. “I really appreciate the beauty here. San Diego is great, but I can appreciate the beauty in each season here in Oregon.”
Eugene is also the place where she discovered her passion for arts administration. While working on her MM, she held a position in the SOMD undergraduate advising office. “It was at that time where I realized that my work in the undergrad office provided a different kind of reward for me in terms of giving administrative support to students and helping them succeed in that way,” she said. “It felt more right for me in terms of a career path.”
So, when her current position opened, she went for it! Now a decade into her role as the athletic bands administrative coordinator, she manages more than 250 staff and students for band camp, the spring game, band auditions, football and basketball games, and more. She is responsible for OMB logistics, operations, and communications, and she manages the budget, among other duties. Her favorite part of her job is working with the students. "I get to help them achieve something that they take a lot of pride in, and that they find success in,” she said. “It is incredibly rewarding!”
Frazer makes announcements to OMB
Every year, she looks forward to what each new crop of students will bring. “What we do every year is consistent, but every year it’s a different assortment with different personalities that fills in the color of the band,” she said. “People always say, ‘Oh, they look like they're having so much fun!’ And it is because they are. They have so much joy, excitement and passion when cheering for the Ducks. Even the students who do not know anything about football, they get into it too because they are there to have a good time.”
In the offseason, Frazer stays busy! She coordinates logistics and operations for SOMD’s jazz improvisation camp for high school musicians. “It’s quite successful!” she said, “It is a fantastic program that everyone really cares about. It has the same kind of energy that I enjoy with the marching band in terms of being amongst musicians who care a lot about what they are doing. It is also great to see the high school students get inspired by it and gain something so pivotal in their lives in terms of their relationship with music.” Frazer is also the operations and volunteers coordinator for the Oregon Bach Festival and the departments coordinator for SOMD.
Frazer speaks with Oregon Bach Festival volunteers
Outside work, she competes recreationally in tennis. She also travels to Australia, where her mother’s side of the family is from, as much as she can.
She is celebrating her 7-year wedding anniversary with her husband, Cory, this month. They share two cats, Lucy and Louis, and chickens!
