{"id":28669,"date":"2025-01-01T12:24:22","date_gmt":"2025-01-01T12:24:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dci.org\/?post_type=hall-of-fame&p=28669"},"modified":"2025-01-01T12:27:48","modified_gmt":"2025-01-01T12:27:48","slug":"denise-bonfiglio","status":"publish","type":"hall-of-fame","link":"https:\/\/www.dci.org\/hall-of-fame\/denise-bonfiglio\/","title":{"rendered":"Denise Bonfiglio"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Many know her as the daughter of George Bonfiglio, founder of the 27th Lancers Drum and Bugle Corps and founding father of Drum Corps International. However, Denise Bonfiglio has paved her own impressive path through the drum corps activity via a career that\u2019s already lasted more than 50 years.<\/p>

Growing up on the east coast, Bonfiglio joined the Immaculate Conception Reveries before becoming a member of her father\u2019s 27th Lancers. She excelled as a member of the corps\u2019 color guard and stayed on as an instructor after aging out, teaching the unit\u2019s legendary rifle line.<\/p>

\u201cDuring those years she worked with George Zingali, Peggy Twiggs and George Bonfiglio,\u201d said 2015 DCI Hall of Fame inductee William Harty. \u201cTogether they created the success of the 27th Lancers, winning the hearts and respect of everyone who watched them perform.\u201d<\/p>

After the 27th Lancers ceased operations as a DCI drum corps in 1986, Bonfiglio brought her talents to other corps, including the Garfield Cadets and Star of Indiana. In 1987, she spearheaded the reintroduction of a rifle line into the Cadets\u2019 color guard section.<\/p>

Bonfiglio worked with the 1987 Cadets to shape an inexperienced group of performers into a cohesive and competitive unit. Among the members she taught to spin a rifle that year was April Gilligan, who became a Bonfiglio prot\u00e9g\u00e9 and later led corps\u2019 color guard section as caption head.<\/p>

\u201cNot having a clue even how to hold the rifle, it was going to be a long summer,\u201d Gilligan remembered when first meeting Bonfiglio in \u201887. \u201cShe had no idea what she was up against in having to teach me, but her teaching style was soft and quiet, yet powerful, with results as we went on to win the DCI Championship.\u201d<\/p>

Since the 2000s, Bonfiglio has worked with Santa Clara Vanguard and in recent years has served as the corps\u2019 staff coordinator. In that position she plays an important role as a liaison and facilitator between the organization\u2019s design staff, instructional staff, and management and administrative teams.<\/p>

In parallel with her drum corps activities, Bonfiglio has also been a widely regarded and respected individual within the Winter Guard International community. In 2000, she was inducted into the WGI Hall of Fame. In 2006, she was instrumental in reinstating the Santa Clara Vanguard Winter Guard program, an award-winning group with which she currently serves as director.<\/p>

With an eye on the past and one on the future, Bonfiglio co-founded the 27th Lancers Foundation with her sister Janine McWilliams. The non-profit organization, in honor of their late parents George and Patsy, raises funds to provide scholarships awarded to DCI corps members on an annual basis.<\/p>

And therein is perhaps Bonfiglio\u2019s greatest achievement in drum corps\u2014her willingness to teach and mentor up-and-coming talent while planting the seeds for future generations of corps members to perform and thrive.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t

Hall of Fame Induction Speech\n<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
<\/div>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"featured_media":28674,"template":"","hall-of-fame-year":[52],"class_list":["post-28669","hall-of-fame","type-hall-of-fame","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","hall-of-fame-year-52"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDenise Bonfiglio - DCI Hall of Fame<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Color Guard Instructor, Staff Coordinator\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dci.org\/hall-of-fame\/denise-bonfiglio\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Denise Bonfiglio - DCI Hall of Fame\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Color Guard Instructor, Staff Coordinator\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dci.org\/hall-of-fame\/denise-bonfiglio\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drumcorpsinternational\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-01-01T12:27:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/images.dci.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Denise-Bonfiglio.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@dci\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dci.org\\\/hall-of-fame\\\/denise-bonfiglio\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dci.org\\\/hall-of-fame\\\/denise-bonfiglio\\\/\",\"name\":\"Denise Bonfiglio - DCI Hall of Fame\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dci.org\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dci.org\\\/hall-of-fame\\\/denise-bonfiglio\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dci.org\\\/hall-of-fame\\\/denise-bonfiglio\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/images.dci.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/Denise-Bonfiglio.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-01-01T12:24:22+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-01-01T12:27:48+00:00\",\"description\":\"Color Guard Instructor, Staff Coordinator\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dci.org\\\/hall-of-fame\\\/denise-bonfiglio\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dci.org\\\/hall-of-fame\\\/denise-bonfiglio\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dci.org\\\/hall-of-fame\\\/denise-bonfiglio\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/images.dci.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/Denise-Bonfiglio.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/images.dci.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/Denise-Bonfiglio.webp\",\"width\":400,\"height\":400,\"caption\":\"Denise Bonfiglio\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dci.org\\\/hall-of-fame\\\/denise-bonfiglio\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dci.org\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Denise Bonfiglio\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dci.org\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dci.org\\\/\",\"name\":\"\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dci.org\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Denise Bonfiglio - DCI Hall of Fame","description":"Color Guard Instructor, Staff Coordinator","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.dci.org\/hall-of-fame\/denise-bonfiglio\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Denise Bonfiglio - DCI Hall of Fame","og_description":"Color Guard Instructor, Staff Coordinator","og_url":"https:\/\/www.dci.org\/hall-of-fame\/denise-bonfiglio\/","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drumcorpsinternational","article_modified_time":"2025-01-01T12:27:48+00:00","og_image":[{"width":400,"height":400,"url":"https:\/\/images.dci.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Denise-Bonfiglio.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@dci","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.dci.org\/hall-of-fame\/denise-bonfiglio\/","url":"https:\/\/www.dci.org\/hall-of-fame\/denise-bonfiglio\/","name":"Denise Bonfiglio - DCI Hall of Fame","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dci.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dci.org\/hall-of-fame\/denise-bonfiglio\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dci.org\/hall-of-fame\/denise-bonfiglio\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/images.dci.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Denise-Bonfiglio.webp","datePublished":"2025-01-01T12:24:22+00:00","dateModified":"2025-01-01T12:27:48+00:00","description":"Color Guard Instructor, Staff Coordinator","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dci.org\/hall-of-fame\/denise-bonfiglio\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.dci.org\/hall-of-fame\/denise-bonfiglio\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.dci.org\/hall-of-fame\/denise-bonfiglio\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/images.dci.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Denise-Bonfiglio.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/images.dci.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Denise-Bonfiglio.webp","width":400,"height":400,"caption":"Denise Bonfiglio"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.dci.org\/hall-of-fame\/denise-bonfiglio\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.dci.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Denise Bonfiglio"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.dci.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.dci.org\/","name":"","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.dci.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dci.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hall-of-fame\/28669","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dci.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hall-of-fame"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dci.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/hall-of-fame"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.dci.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hall-of-fame\/28669\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dci.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dci.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"hall-of-fame-year","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dci.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hall-of-fame-year?post=28669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}