Eric MacNeill is regarded as one of the top pipe band drummers in North America. Growing up in a pipe band family, Eric brings a lifetime of experience as a drummer, competitor, adjudicator, composer, and leader to the Scottish Arts community.
Eric became the Lead Drummer for the Oran Mor Pipe Band, of upstate NY, in 2000 and helped build the band to the top of Grade 2 and into Grade 1, the highest level of pipe band grading in the world. In 2011, Eric led Oran Mor into the grade 1 finals (top 14 bands in the world) at that World Pipe Band Championships in Glasgow. In 2012, Eric joined the 6-time World champion Simon Fraser University Pipe Band of Vancoucer, BC where he played under long-time mentor, Lead Drummer J Reid Maxwell.
In 2015, Eric took a position as Drumming Director for the CIty of Dunedin Pipe band programs in Dunedin, Florida and assumed the role of lead drummer for the City of Dunedin Pipe Band. With Eric, the City of Dunedin quickly rose to the top of grade 2, winning the North American Championships in 2016 and the World Pipe Band and Drum Corps championships in 2018.
This success catapulted the City of Dunedin into grade 1, where the band won the grade 1 North American Championship in 2019.
Eric is also an accomplished solo performer, having qualified for the World Solo Drumming Championships Finals (top 12 solo drummers) in 2018, 2019, and 2022 in Glasgow, Scotland.
Eric is a past president of the Eastern United States Pipe Band Association, and currently a member of the association’s Music Board and Adjudicator’s panel. Eric is currently the president of the Dunedin Scottish Arts Foundation, overseeing Scottish events in Dunedin, such as the Dunedin Highland Games & Festival, the Dunedin Celtic Music Festival, and the Dunedin Tide summer camp for piping and drumming.
