Jason Reed Miller

36, of Gulfport, Florida, died Saturday evening, December 10, 2016 in a head-on collision on US 19 in Palm Harbor, Florida. Jason was born March 1, 1980 in St. Petersburg, Florida, the son of Gary and Chris (Riley) Miller.

In recent months, Jason had started to establish himself in a full time music career in Tampa Bay as a soloist, Conductor and composer. He was a tenor in the chorus of the St. Petersburg Opera Company. Jason had just successfully auditioned for Opera Tampa. He taught music lessons at the business he owned, Gulfport Music Studio, and was a section leader for the choir at St. Wilfred Episcopal Church in Sarasota. He was a member of Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Seminole, Florida, where he taught the Children’s Choir.

Jason’s passion for music started young. He performed in the Seminole High School band and orchestra, and got a full scholarship to St. Petersburg College. He joined the Madrigalians, an ensemble chosen from within the larger college chorus. The Madrigalians had performed a composition of his called “The Little Crocodile” based on a poem in Lewis Carroll’s “ Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”. In the opera company, Jason had moved into the emerging artists’ program, said Mark Sforzini, the company’s executive and artistic director.

Jason is survived by his mother, Chris Miller; his father, Gary Miller; a sister, Jaimie L. Poe; a brother, Scott Poe; and several nieces and nephews.

A Funeral Mass will be celebrated 10:00am Saturday, December 17, 2016 at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church, 11565 66th Ave. No. Seminole, FL 33772. Interment will follow at Garden Sanctuary Cemetery in Seminole. Memorial donations may be made to: St. Petersburg Opera, Jason Miller Scholarship Fund.

Funeral arrangements were made under the direction of Garden Sanctuary Funeral Home, 7950 131st St. Seminole, FL 33776 / 727-391-0121.