Frank Bongiorno is Professor of Saxophone and Jazz Studies at the University of North Carolina Wilmington since 1982. During this time at UNCW, his saxophone as well as jazz students have received national and international recognition by such organizations as Down Beat and Jazzfest USA, among others, and he has been recognized for his contributions to teaching at UNCW receiving the 2006 J. Marshall Crews Distinguished Faculty Award, the UNCW 2010 Distinguished Teaching Professorship Award, and the 2011 North Carolina Board of Governors Award for Excellence in Teaching.

His publications include classical saxophone transcriptions (Oboe Quartet in F Major, K. 370 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5: Cantilena by Heitor Villa-Lobos), 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, a DVD on Basic Reed Maintenance for the Saxophonist, as well as over 150 articles and reviews in such publications as the Saxophone Symposium, Saxophone Journal, North Carolina Music Educators Journal, the National Association of College Wind & Percussion Instructors and Popular Musicians.

Intended for the upper-level high school student as well as undergraduate student, Basic Concepts and Strategies for the Developing Saxophonist provides fundamental topics as well as exercises with suggested approaches to help the saxophone student and performer better understand the workings of the saxophone. This book contains twenty-two topics with musical examples demonstrating concepts and strategies, as well as a final chapter of technical exercises at the end.

This new book belongs in every college music library and in the personal library of all serious saxophonists. It will be especially beneficial to those who teach the saxophone. I applaud Dr. Bongiorno’s work in bringing these important concepts to his readers. -Dr. Steven Mauk, Retired Professor of Saxophone, Ithaca College