The President and Committee of the Bundanoon Highland Gathering are delighted to welcome and congratulate their first ever female Drum Major Chloe Cusack of Manly Warringah Pipe Band to lead the Massed Pipes and Drums at Brigadoon this month. Chloe first joined a band in 2002 at the age of 13. This was a new band, attached to the Army Cadet Unit she attended and after being given a pair of snare sticks and asked to repeat a simple score, and was assigned the role of tenor drummer.
Chloe went on to become Drum Major of the Perth band, the Swan Regiment Drums and Pipes, WA, in 2004 at age 16 and stayed with this band until moving to Sydney in 2014. Chloe joined Manly Warringah Pipe Band in 2014, and officially became Drum Major in 2019, after playing both tenor and bass, and acting as Drum Major, when needed.
Chloe’s international performances include the Virginia International Tattoo 2014, Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo 2015, 2018, and Melbourne 2016, and the Basel Tattoo 2017 and 2024. Some of Chloe’s biggest highlights include marching across the drawbridge in Edinburgh, and leading the Sydney ANZAC Day massed pipes and drums and her favourite thing about pipe bands is seeing the emotion on people’s faces as they hear a tune special to them.
One her favourite aspects about being in the Manly Warringah Pipe Band is the welcoming, can-do attitude of the band members, of which they have a great range of ages, professions and backgrounds. Similarly, the diversity of the jobs, including playing down the toilet aisle of a local Bunnings, and marching in the sand on iconic Sydney beaches for Surf Carnivals. Outside of the band Chloe lives with her husband and young daughter in Sydney’s Lower North Shore and works as a Program Manager with Transport for NSW.
Bundanoon Highland Gathering takes place in the NSW Southern Highlands, Saturday April 5th. For details see: www.brigadoon.org.au.