He also received coaching and advice from Myra Hess, who suggested he study with Carl Friedberg, in whom he finally found a teacher who suited him.
The 1960 Bayreuth Festival Master Classes, Inc. – LO8P-5179 issue of Richard Wagner's complete piano works was credited to Bruce Hungerford.
Hungerford moved to the United States, and combined a reduced concert schedule with a teaching appointment in Mannes College of Music.
On 26 January 1977 in New York City at the age of 54, Hungerford was killed in a road accident, a head-on collision caused by a drunk driver.
In addition to his musical accomplishments, Hungerford was a keen palaeontologist, and studied vertebrate palaeontology at Columbia University and at the Museum of Natural History in New York.