Biography

Heather is one of Britain's leading percussionists. Her versatility enables her to play all styles of music from light to very difficult contemporary music and she has given many world premieres of concertos. She was born into a musical family, later studying at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London where she was awarded numerous prizes and scholarships during her joint study of percussion and piano. She also helped develop the Percussion Department of the Junior School at the Guildhall. Heather freelanced with the BBC Symphony Orchestra where she played Percussion and Cimbalom under the direction of Pierre Boulez, as well as with other notable orchestras and ensembles in London before moving to Scotland in 1972 as Section Principal Percussion with the BBC SSO.

She is percussionist and cimbalom player with the Marianne Olyver Orchestra and is also one of their principal soloists, appearing regularly as a soloist on BBC Radio 2. Heather has been playing with the Paragon Ensemble for over 10 years and gave the world premiere of a new percussion concerto by composer Martin Butler as part of Paragon's 20th Birthday Concert in the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. She has also played numerous Percussion Concertos with the BBC SSO, including those by Milhaud, Creston, Hovhaness, Ortiz and Howard Blake. These were all broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and/or BBC Radio Scotland. She received a personal letter from Darius Milhaud thanking her for playing his Concerto for Marimba and Vibraphone. Heather's talents are in great demand in the world of education for master-classes, seminars and workshops as well as individual tuition and examining.

As an experienced recording artist, Heather regularly makes CDs, BBC broadcasts and television appearances.