Born in London in 1948, Susan Sheppard started to play cello when she was 11. Six years later, she entered the Royal Academy of Music, studying with Derek Simpson, then taking lessons from André Navarra. Susan Sheppard graduated in 1969 but, like most cellists at that point, had never heard of Baroque cello, which she began to investigate in the mid-1970s. She recalls: “It was very difficult actually to find anybody to learn from”. Susan Sheppard took several lessons from Anthony Pleeth and an early music course with the Kuijken brothers, but she is mostly self-taught. Since she started the Baroque cello in her mid-twenties, she has played it almost exclusively.
As a modern cellist, Susan Sheppard has played with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Philharmonia Orchestra.
She soon became one of England’s busiest performers on period instruments, playing principal cello with the Academy of Ancient Music for 13 years, the London Classical Players, and more recently the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, of which she is a founding member. Susan Sheppard and her colleagues yearned for an orchestra run by musicians and able to play with a variety of directors. The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment has worked with Sir Charles Mackerras, Sir Simon Rattle, Sir Roger Norrington, Sir Mark Elder and Gustav Leonhardt among others.
Susan Sheppard has recorded the complete chamber music of Handel with the ensemble L’École d’Orphée and has made the first period instrument recording of all nine Vivaldi cello sonatas and in 1999 she was one of the first female cellists to record Bach’s six Solo Cello Suites, to great acclaim.
She teaches Baroque cello at the Trinity College of Music as well as at Guildhall School of Music.
As a modern cellist, Susan Sheppard has played with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Philharmonia Orchestra.
She soon became one of England’s busiest performers on period instruments, playing principal cello with the Academy of Ancient Music for 13 years, the London Classical Players, and more recently the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, of which she is a founding member. Susan Sheppard and her colleagues yearned for an orchestra run by musicians and able to play with a variety of directors. The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment has worked with Sir Charles Mackerras, Sir Simon Rattle, Sir Roger Norrington, Sir Mark Elder and Gustav Leonhardt among others.
Susan Sheppard has recorded the complete chamber music of Handel with the ensemble L’École d’Orphée and has made the first period instrument recording of all nine Vivaldi cello sonatas and in 1999 she was one of the first female cellists to record Bach’s six Solo Cello Suites, to great acclaim.
She teaches Baroque cello at the Trinity College of Music as well as at Guildhall School of Music.