"In December of that year the school's mixed choir joined with the famous Glasgow Phoenix Choir for a choral concert at Hamilton Town Hall (joining again with the Glasgow Phoenix Choir in a concert in 1967) and in 1962 the school's mixed choir achieved the highest mark in the Glasgow Music Festival, in addition to the Festival's highest award, the Ailie Cullen Memorial Trophy, being won by Ian McGregor, a former pupil of Hamilton Academy.