Rik Palieri and his Polish Bagpipes
Channel: Lawrence Molczyk
Date: 2018-11-19

Rik gives a brief history of his interest and journey in mastering the archaic instrument, the Polish Bagpipes.  His interest in a dying art helped spark a revival of interest in the instrument in its homeland. Riik makes a November 2018 presentation to members of the Polish Heritage Center at the Loup City, Nebraska Community Center.   In the late 1970’s Rik came across a photo of a Polish bagpiper in a National Geographic magazine, in an article called “Spring Time of Hope for Poland - April 1972.” Being of Polish descent he wanted to find out more about this old Polish folk instrument. After a long search he found a set of Polish pipes and learned how to play them. He was later invited to perform at the 1980 Rzeszow World Festival in Poland, where he won a contest and was awarded the title of “Outstanding Solo Musician.” At the festival he also met his future teacher and mentor master piper Jozef Broda.
Rik & Miska
In 1984-85, Rik received a fellowship from the Kosciusko Foundation for the study of the Polish Bagpipe under Broda. Living high up in the mountains of Istebna in southern Poland, he learned the secrets of piping from Broda and the last remaining pipers of that time. Jozef and the other pipers taught Rik not only the bagpipes but also how to play the wooden flute, clay ocarina and the long wooden trumpet. While in Poland he performed with Broda on National Polish TV and later joined Broda’s Folk & Dance group for a tour of Southern France where they also performed on both radio and television.