Neil Ritchie

Neil Ritchie was born in Vancouver and attended high school in West Vancouver. After graduating with a degree in Commerce from UBC, he soon found his new career as a banker was unrewarding; he wanted to work in the music field since he first performed in HMS Pinafore in grade two.

Ritchie joined CBC cataloguing records in the library, and after four years he became a studio director for CBC radio's Off the Record with Bob Kerr, and Hot Air with Bob Smith. Ritchie has remained at CBC for thirty years now, and has produced radio shows for Otto Lowry, Jurgen Gothe, Paul Grant and Alan Aberbach.  Aberbach, a former Director of the SFU Seniors Program, was the first to persuade him to teach a class on jazz history at SFU. Although he had never taught a course before, Ritchie decided to give it a try. With the experience he had gained working at CBC and a collection of videos and CDs, as well as his knowledge of music gained from playing piano and saxophone, he started his first class with the Program in 1997. Ritchie's classes at the Seniors Program have developed quite a following, and are now held in one of the largest theatres available at the Harbour Centre campus.