Shirley Thompson is one of Britain''s most gifted and original composers as well as an inspiration to many emerging musicians. Captivating audiences and critics alike with music for stage and screen, she reaches out across racial and cultural divides in displays of sensitivity and virtuosity rarely found among her contemporaries. Born in England of Jamaican parents, Shirley grew up in London and later studied composition at Liverpool University, before going on to do a Masters degree at Goldsmiths College. Soon after leaving university she gained her first major Arts Council commission for the 1985 Greenwich Festival. This led to offers of a wide range of work composing for ensembles and soloists. More success followed: in 1989, she became the first black woman to compose the theme music for a major BBC drama series, ''South of the Border''. Although she is best known as a composer, Shirley is also a highly proficient journalist and talented television and film director. She puts her success down to a number of factors, not least a supportive home environment and her luck in having had good teachers.
