The Ryoanji Duo (U.S.A.)
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Rock Garden (2000) * Face the Moon (2000) * avec la collaboration de: with the participation of: Robert Nathanson, guitare classique / classical guitar * Création / World premiere |
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The Ryoanji Duo: Frank Bongiorno, saxophone and Robert Nathanson, classical guitar
Although each performer has established solo careers, Frank Bongiorno and Robert Nathanson have performed as a duo since their debut performance at the Tenth World Saxophone Congress in Pesaro, Italy in 1992. In their search for new music for the saxophone and guitar, the Ryoanji Duo has commissioned award-winning pieces as well as expanded the repertoire for the duo through the transcription and publication of the music of Mozart, Handel, Villa-Lobos and others. They have collaborated on two recordings and will soon release a new CD of saxophone and guitar music written for them on the Liscio Recordings label (http://www.lisciorecordings.com). Both are currently on the faculty in the Department of Music at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington where they teach saxophone and classical guitar respectively, among other courses. As an active recitalist, orchestral soloist, jazz artist, and clinician throughout the United States and abroad, Frank Bongiorno's performances have taken him to Berlin, Boston, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, New York, Tokyo, Nuremberg, Montreux (Switzerland), Graz and Salzburg (Austria), Valencia (Spain), and Pesaro (Italy). He has performed solos with various professional and college ensembles such as the Orchestra Filarmonica Marchigiana (Italy), Shreveport Symphony, Wilmington Symphony Orchestra, Auburn University Wind Ensemble, Williams College Jazz Ensemble, and Northern State College Jazz Ensemble, among others. In addition, Bongiorno performs regularly in solo recital and also with his jazz group. Other performing credits include performances as a supporting musician for the Four Tops, Carol Channing, Red Skelton, North Carolina Symphony, Kenny Rogers, Frankie Vallie, Phil Woods, Johnny Mathis, Steve Lawrence and Edie Gorme, Les Brown, among others. Bongiorno's solo compact disc recordings include the critically acclaimed "Classic Saxophone" and "Classic Saxophone, Vol. 2: Musica da camera." Both of these recordings, which are frequently played by public radio stations throughout the country, feature Bongiorno in a variety of musical settings displaying his diverse playing abilities. Also, he has recorded a jazz play along CD of original jazz compositions as well as a master class CD on learning to improvise using transcriptions for Jazz Player Magazine and a saxophone vibrato master class CD released by the Saxophone Journal. In addition to his performance schedule, Bongiorno is Professor of Music and Chair of the Department of Music at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and also teaches saxophone as well as jazz studies. He has numerous publications including saxophone transcriptions of "Classical" music, original compositions for jazz combo, paper presentations at the Eighteenth Annual International Association for Jazz Educators Conference and the Second Annual Boston Saxophone Workshop & Contemporary Woodwind Seminar, as well as over 30 articles and reviews in such journals as the Saxophone Symposium, North Carolina Music Educators Journal, and the National Association of College Wind & Percussion Instructors. Bongiorno currently writes columns that appear in the Saxophone Journal entitled "Saxophone Performance Techniques" as well as jazz solo transcriptions and analyses for Jazz Player Magazine. He has also been featured in a front cover interview in the January/February 1993 issue of the Saxophone Journal. |
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