Moree Caledonian Pipes & Drums Pipe Major Tim Tesoriero. Photo: Moree Online News.
There will be fewer bagpipes and more brain-teasers at Moree Masonic Centre on Saturday night, when Moree Caledonian Pipes & Drums turns to trivia to help fund its next trip onto the competition field.
The band’s Trivia Night starts at 6pm on Saturday, September 12, with money raised helping meet travel and other costs as the group prepares for the NSW State Pipe Band Championships later this year.
It comes after a busy competition year for the Moree band. Pipe Major Tim Tesoriero said members had travelled to four major competitions in Queensland this year and placed first at each.
Moree also brought home the Grade 4A title from the 2026 Maclean Highland Gathering, finishing ahead of City of Ipswich Pipe Band and New South Wales Highlanders Pipe Band. Official results also show Moree finished second in the Grade 4B marches and third in the street parade.
But getting a pipe band onto a competition field takes considerably more than turning up with a set of pipes and drums.
Mr Tesoriero said fundraising helped cover travel as well as the ongoing costs of instruments and uniforms, with the band supplying instruments and most of the uniform its members need.
“Because we’re a not-for-profit, we give lessons for free, and we only ask for a very small membership fee every year to join,” Mr Tesoriero said.
The band charges an annual membership fee of $50 and offers free lessons at 5.30pm each Tuesday at the town band hall in Jellicoe Park for people interested in learning bagpipes, snare drum or tenor drum.
Prior musical experience is not a prerequisite.
Mr Tesoriero said the band’s youngest members were six years old, while its oldest was 82, making piping and drumming an activity people could continue across generations.
“If you just want something different to do, a good community, something you can do for your entire life, it’s something for all ages,” he said.
Keeping those ranks filled, however, presents a distinctly local challenge.
Mr Tesoriero said Moree’s transient population meant the band could train young musicians only to see them leave town for boarding school or other opportunities.
“We have members that we train, we get them to a level, and then they go away to boarding school,” he said.
“So we’re always looking for new members, but we hold on.”
The band’s work is not confined to competitions. Moree Caledonian Pipes & Drums performed with Highland dancers at the Moree Memorial Hall Community Showcase in June.
Moree Plains Shire Council also awarded the band $3,000 in July towards an equipment and uniform upgrade program after councillors varied a staff recommendation to include the group in the funding round.
Saturday night’s fundraiser will take a considerably less serious approach to keeping the band on the road.
Tables of eight are available for $20 per person for people bringing their own food and drinks, or $35 per person with catering provided. Drinks remain BYO under both options.
There is also a costume challenge. Guests are being asked to dress as something beginning with M, P or B, leaving plenty of scope for everything from a magician or pirate to, perhaps, a bagpiper.
Mr Tesoriero said businesses across Moree had donated thousands of dollars worth of prizes for the night, with prizes planned for the winning trivia table and best-dressed guests, along with a lucky-door prize and raffles.
For the band, the fun of the night has a practical purpose. Competition travel is only one part of keeping Moree’s pipers and drummers playing, with fundraising also supporting the instruments, uniforms and training that allow new members to start without facing the full cost themselves.
Trivia Night will be held at Moree Masonic Centre from 6pm on Saturday, September 12. Tables of eight can be booked by contacting Tim on 0437 329 797 or Sam on 0413 733 018.
