Canada 150: the 15 Greatest Canadian Pipers & Drummers (deceased)
#5: Ed Neigh
Ed Neigh was one of the early native-born Canadian pipers to make a mark on the world solo stage. His solo talents earned him Scottish success in the 1970s, winning the Dunvegan Medal on Skye and other awards. He was the first piper in his family, born to unlikely parents of German lineage, and grew up in the Brantford, Ontario, area. Neigh was drawn to piobaireachd through early summer schools in Ontario with John MacFadyen, who would later give Neigh a teaching job in Glasgow for a year at the school where MacFadyen was headmaster. He studied piobaireachd relentlessly, and freely passed along his knowledge and techniques, which heavily influenced many. His impact on pipe bands was profound, leading the Grade 1 Guelph Pipe Band, a group that pushed the envelope of medley construction with adventurous orchestrations unheard of at the time. Ed Neigh was also the first to adopt the chromatic tuner, experimenting with an early device in the 1970s, opening the door to a completely new era of sophisticated pipe band tuning.
Nice work! John Wilson published 3 collections of pipe music, the third being the Canadian Centenial collection…all three of which I continue to use and teach my students today…
Mike Baker
It is interesting that none of the excellent 15 selected musicians appear to be players who played predominantly for dancing. Today, we seem to be band players, solo competitors or piobaireachd pipers. Would there be any interest in a list of 150 ceilidh/dance pipers.
Where’s Bill Livingstone?
Definitely Bill Livingstone!
No Bill Livingstone? Bizarre.
Sorry, missed the date of the original article. That explains why the great Bill Livingston is absent!
This article is from 2017, as stated in the very first added line.
The final paragraph: “What do you think? Are there any Canadian pipers or drummers who have sadly passed away since we published this feature in 2017 who you feel should be added to the list? Use our Comments feature to share your suggestions.”
Thanks for reading.
The Captain (Ken Eller)