Walter Rizzo
The Italian is considered an expert on hurdy-gurdy and bagpipes par excellence, and that not only as a musician. His excellent French and northern Italian bagpipes as well as other reed instruments make him a performer and the most important manufacturer of these unique instruments.
About the artist
Specialist for hurdy-gurdy and bagpipes
A hurdy-gurdy, bombardier and bagpipe player, he has been involved with folk music, especially from central France and Brittany, since 1985 and founded the group "Le Saut du chat doré".
Spurred on by his passion for research, he became enthusiastic about reed instruments and began building the first prototypes of the musette (French bagpipe). Today he is the leading manufacturer for this instrument in Italy.
In 1993 he joined "Piva dal carner", a group dedicated to the traditional music of the Apennines of Reggio Emilia, with which he won the critics' prize of the magazine "Folk Bulletin".
He is a co-founder of the folk group BEV, with whom he worked until 2000. In the same year, he began working with the ensemble "Picotage", which deals with French Christmas songs (Noëls).
He is also intensively involved with early music, both from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Since 1998 he has been a permanent member of the ensemble "Musica Officinalis" from Faenza and also works with "Laus Veris" from Assisi, "Clamor et gaudium" from Udine and "Euganeus Consort" from Monselice. He has collaborated with the groups "Consort Veneto" conducted by G. Toffano, "la Compagnia dell'antico bordone" from Reggio Emilia, "Concentus Euganeus" from Este and "La Compagnia dell'asino che porta la croce" from Modena.
He perfected his French hurdy-gurdy technique with Maestro Jean-François "Maxou" Heintzen and holds seminars on the French bagpipes throughout Italy.
