Alan Murdock
Music Director
Alan Murdock, MA BMus MTC, was born in Northern Ireland and completed music degrees at Queen’s University Belfast, the Ulster University and a teacher’s certificate at London University where, as a student, he was taught by Cecilia Vajda, who brought the Kodály teaching approach to the UK.
Alan won the Hamilton Harty Scholarship for composition and studied privately with the late Sir John Tavener. He won The Ulster Orchestra Composer’s Award with his tone poem “Path to Peace” and The New Ireland composition award with his first string quartet. He has written for professional and amateur theatres in Belfast and Bergen.
He moved to teach in London, completing a BKA certificate in advanced musicianship. Both the Chapel Choir and the Boys' Choir at the John Fisher comprehensive school were among the best known prize-winning school choirs in the UK, described as “The choir to beat” by choral expert, Dame Gillian Dibdin, and by the TES: “the golden moment of the MFY festival in the Royal Albert Hall was the John Fisher Boys' Choir.”
The School Choir of around 150 sang not just standard choral works such as Handel's Messiah and Haydn's Creation, but also more ambitious works, including Verdi's Requiem, Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast and Britten’s War Requiem.
Once retired from class teaching, Alan was the much-loved teacher of a children's choir at Colourstrings Music School, based at Kingston University. He also plays in orchestras and in brass and swing bands, and recently returned from a tour of Japan with the Bournemouth Symphony Chorus, who performed Britten's War Requiem to mark the 80th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima. https://www.makingmusic.org.uk/news/bournemouth-symphony-chorus-japan-2025
Our choir
We are one of two or three adult Kodaly choirs in the UK and would love to collaborate with any other vocal ensemble that uses the Kodaly method – please get in touch.
We sing works by Kodaly and Bartok, but cover music from most other eras. We welcome newcomers in all voice parts, at any point in the year – in particular our bass section is still looking for extra voices.
Our regular members come from a diverse range of musical backgrounds. Some are music teachers and educators, some are long-time musicians who are new to the Kodaly method and want to put it into practice, while others learned to sign Kodaly in their youth and use the choir to refresh their sight-reading skills.
It does help to have some choral singing and
sight-reading experience, but we don't audition.
If you are talking solfa classes at an adult learning institution such as London's City Lit or Morley College, the choir offers a golden opportunity to practice what you have learned in class. We occasionally organise informal family-and-friends performances.
Our performance space is light, airy and modern and can be accessed by lift.
Rates per term – £50-60.00, depending on number of rehearsals. A taster session costs £16.00, and student rates are available.
More Kodaly links and resources
The British Kodaly Academy
The International Kodaly Society
Kodaly Hub Knowledge Platform
Colourstrings Music School
https://www.colourstringsmusicschool.co.uk/
CMS specialises in the Colourstrings method, based on
the Kodály approach, which integrates instrumental tuition with aural training and musicianship. It teaches children from 18 months to 18 years every Saturday at Kingston University's Kingston Hill Campus. There is an adult choir for parents.
Kodaly Belongs to All of Us
2019 documentary by Attila Kékesi and Gábor Zsigmond Papp, for the Liszt Institute, Budapest, on how the Kodaly concept as been adapted worldwide.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8nGJl-mbuw&list=RDz8nGJl-mbuw&start_radio=1&t=4824s
The Liszt Institute, London
Morley College
https://www.morleycollege.ac.uk/courses/subject-areas/music/
The City Lit
2025-26 rehearsal dates
November 9th
December 14th
2026
January 11th
February 8th
March 15th
April 12th
May 10th
June 14th
July 12th