City of Phoenix
Parks, Recreation and Library Department

May 11, 1998

To Whom it May Concern:

Rik Palieri from Hinesburg, Vermont joined us for our 9th Annual Phoenix Folk Traditions Music Festival here at Encanto Park in Phoenix, Arizona.

If Rik happens to wander through your town or state find a way to have him share a little of his music as he passes through. He is a very fine traditional folk musician, storyteller, song writer and multi instrumentalist, performing on the guitar, five string banjo, polish bagpipes, Native American Courting Flute, and Ozark Mouth Bow. But more than that he is a nice person, an excellent showman, and a preserver of a troubadour musical tradition that has been going on since the dawn of time.

While here in the Valley Of The Sun Rik also performed at some of our local coffee houses and performing venues. He is equally at home with small groups as well as big crowds, young folks as well as elders, and simple non-amplified spaces as well as microphoned commercial coffee houses.

I liked him as a person, as a folk musician, and as a performer and I think you will too.

Lon Austin
Recreation Coordinator
Encanto Park

The University of Vermont
Center for World Education
College of Education and Social Services

Rik Palieri
388 Oak Hill Road
Hinesburg, Vermont 05346

November 11, 1997

Dear Rik:

I want to thank you very much for your wonderful presentation in my class, Seminar in Aesthetic Education, this semester. You were very kind to bring a number of instruments with you and to demonstrate them so effectively. Your musical presentation was certainly a highlight of my course this Fall.

My students and I were deeply impressed by both the breadth and the depth of your work. We enjoyed the stories you told that helped us understand the historical, personal and cultural context of the music you played and we appreciated your sensitivity to different cultural traditions. In fact, one of the things we noticed most of all was your sincere commitment to the cultures and people you sang about or you played music about. You made the music come alive for us as you made connections and interconnections.

Thank you, Rik, for your outstanding work as a musician and as an educator. You have a friendly, informal way of introducing a variety of ideas and information alongside your music. We will never forget your telling us about the sweatlodge and then your playing a Native American flute, nor will we forget the amazing sound and story of the aboriginal instrument you played or the Polish bagpipes.

Your presentation was a multicultural musical feast and we appreciated it very much.

Sincerely,

David R. Conrad
Professor and Co-Director