Thursday, April 17, 2003

WILMINGTON, NC –Frank Bongiorno and the UNCW Saxophone Quartet will perform at 4 p.m., Sunday, April 27, in Kenan Auditorium, as part of the Music Department’s Artist Recital Series.

The performance will include Allessandro Marcello’s Concerto in C Minor, Alfred Desenclos’ Quatour, Heitor Villa-Lobos’ Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 and two pieces written for Bongiorno, Faces of the Blues by David Baker and Music for Saxophones by David Kechley.

Admission is $5, $2.50 for UNCW faculty, staff, senior citizens and children under 12. UNCW students admitted free with valid ID. Tickets will be available at the auditorium box office the day of the concert.

Dr. Bongiorno is chair of the Department of Music at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington where he has taught saxophone and jazz studies since 1982. An active recitalist, orchestral soloist, jazz artist and clinician, Bongiorno has performed worldwide in Berlin, Boston, Chicago, Graz, Los Angeles, Montreal, New York, Nuremberg, Pesaro, Tokyo, Valencia, and Washington, D.C. His solos with professional and college ensembles include the Orchestra Filarmonica Marchigiana (Italy), Shreveport Symphony, Wilmington Symphony Orchestra, Auburn University Wind Ensemble, Williams College Jazz Ensemble and Northern State College Jazz Ensemble.

A member of the renowned Ryoanji Duo (saxophone & classical guitar), Bongiorno also performs with a jazz group. His other credits include supporting musician for the Four Tops, Carol Channing, Red Skelton, the North Carolina Symphony, Kenny Rogers, Frankie Vallie, Johnny Mathis and Steve Lawrence and Edie Gorme as well as performing for the movie sound track of Chasers and the instructional video Sing Like a Pro. Bongiorno’s solo CDs include the critically acclaimed Classic Saxophone and a second volume Classic Saxophone: Musica da camera. He also recorded a jazz play-along CD of original jazz compositions and a master class CD on how to improvise using transcriptions for Jazz Player Magazine. Saxophone Journal released his saxophone vibrato master class CD.

Bongiorno writes CD reviews for the Saxophone Journal and is the coordinating editor of saxophone reviews for Saxophone Symposium. He was featured in the cover interview of the January/February 1993 issue of the Saxophone Journal and was listed in the International Who’s Who in Music, 17th Edition and the Outstanding Musicians of the 20th Century.

Members of the UNCW Saxophone Quartet are students Brian Watson, soprano saxophone; Alan Gross, alto saxophone; Bob Pearson, tenor saxophone; and Joseph Yankel, baritone saxophone.

Watson, a junior who is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in music education, is lead tenor in the UNCW Big Band.

Gross, a sophomore is working on a bachelor’s degree in music education and performance. He also plays in the UNCW Big Band and Wind Ensemble.

Pearson is a sophomore who is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in music education and performance. He also plays in the UNCW Big Band.

Yankel is pursuing a double major in music and computer science. He is lead alto in the UNCW Big Band and was selected as the 2002-03 collegiate winner of the Richard R. Deas Concerto Competition.

For more information, contact the UNCW Music Department at 910/962-3390.