Kuala Lumpur choircomes to Coleraine

And one local face will head up the well-respected group.

Alistair Hamilton, a former pupil of Coleraine Inst, is Choral Director of the Alice Smith School Choir.

Speaking to The Coleraine Times last week during a visit home, Alistair says he is looking forward to returning to his home town with the Malaysian pupils.

Alistair is a music teacher at the prestigious Alice Smith School in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur. It is one of the most sought after schools in the city, delivering the British curriculum.

After teaching in Durham for four years, he applied to work internationally, and was lucky enough to land a job at the school.

“I’ve been teaching at the Alice Smith School now for the past four years,” said Alistair.

“It was whilst I was working at a school in Durham that another teacher told me about working internationally, and I applied.

“The principal of the Alice Smith School flew to London to interview me, and I was lucky enough to get the job.

“We set the choir up four years ago to give the pupils something to focus on for a year.

“The children that attend this school are very privileged.

“Many have their own maids and a few have bodyguards, they are very fortunate.

“At the end of the first year of the choir we decided to tour, so we went to Los Angeles and San Francisco, the second year saw us in New York and Canada and last year we did Italy and Hungary.

“This year we decided to tour the UK. Many of the pupils’ parents are from the United Kingdom, but the children themselves have never seen the UK, except maybe a terminal at Heathrow. So they are really excited about visiting.”

The choir members, aged 12 to 18, are all pupils of the Alice Smith School.

The school was established by Australian woman, Alice Smith who moved to Malaysia after the Second World War.

After deciding to home school her daughter, Alice was asked by other families to teach their children, and the School began.

You can see the choir performing their only Irish concert at Terrace Row Presbyterian Church on Monday, July 4. Watch this space for further details.