During Dr. Bongiorno's tenure at UNCW, his saxophone as well as jazz students have received national and international recognition by such organizations as Down Beat magazine and Jazzfest USA, among others, and he has been recognized for his contributions to teaching receiving the 2006 J. Marshall Crews Distinguished Faculty Award and the 2010 Distinguished Teaching Professorship Award, and the 2011 North Carolina Board of Governors Award for Excellence in Teaching.
As an active recitalist, orchestral soloist, jazz artist, and clinician, he has performed and presented throughout the United States and abroad. In addition, he performs regularly as a member of the renowned Ryoanji Duo (saxophone and classical guitar), as well as with his jazz group. Other performing credits include performances as a supporting musician for the Four Tops, Kenny Rogers, Aretha Franklin, Red Skelton, Johnny Mathis, and Frankie Vallie among others.
Dr. Bongiorno's solo compact disc recordings include the critically acclaimed Classic Saxophone, Classic Saxophone, Vol. 2, and Images, as a member of the Ryoanji Duo. He has also recorded a jazz play-along CD of original jazz compositions, as well as master class CD on learning to improvise using transcriptions for Jazz Player Magazine, a saxophone vibrato CD, and two play-along CD recordings of duets for saxophone released by the Saxophone Journal.
He has numerous publications including saxophone transcriptions of "Classical" music, original compositions for jazz combo, paper presentations at national conferences, as well as over 150 articles and reviews in various trade magazines. He has been featured in a front cover interview in the January/February 1993 issue of the Saxophone Journal and is listed in the International Who's Who in Music, Seventeenth Edition and the Outstanding Musicians of the 20th Century.
