Sheona White
Biography
Sheona White was born in Scotland and began to play the tenor horn at the age of ten, she then went on to become Junior Solo Champion of Scotland and was appointed Principal Horn of the National Youth Brass Band of Scotland.
Between 1992 and 1996 Sheona studied with Professor David King at the University of Salford, graduating with a BA (Hons) and distinction in performance studies. Sheona was also awarded the ‘Harry Mortimer Performance Prize’ in 1996.
During her studies at the University of Salford Sheona became the first tenor horn player, first Scot and first female to be declared British Open Solo Champion and in 1996 also won the coveted title BBC Radio 2 Young Musician of the Year. Sheona subsequently made several broadcasts and recordings as guest soloist with the BBC Concert Orchestra.
In 1997 she performed in Westminster Abbey for the Commonwealth Day Observance Concert in the presence of Her Majesty the Queen.
In 1998 Sheona was selected as a finalist in the Cosmopolitan Women of Achievement Awards and has received a Platinum Disc for her solo role in the world-acclaimed CD ‘Perfect Day’.
Sheona also recorded her first highly acclaimed solo CD ‘Voice of the Tenor Horn’ in 2000 and as Principal Horn with the YBS Band for 12 years recorded numerous award winning commercial CDs including the ‘Essays for Brass’ series, ‘Bourgeois in Brass’ and ‘Music of the Spheres’ and ‘Alpha & Omega’ and ‘Festive Impressions’.
During the ‘YBS era’, Sheona shared in the band’s huge success worldwide. This included winning the All England Masters 3 times, the British Open 4 times and representing England in the European ‘EBBA’ festival on ten occasions, winning the European Championships an unprecedented eight times in the ten appearances. She also performed in the Sydney Opera House as part of the YBS ‘Kings of Europe’ Tour in 2005.
She is regularly invited as a guest soloist/tutor throughout Europe and worldwide, including visits to Australia, Canada, Japan and USA where she was a member of the Brass Band of Battle Creek between 2000 and 2003. As well as performing and teaching Sheona is regularly asked to adjudicate events such as the NABBA Championships (USA), the National Youth Brass Band Championships of Great Britain, and the BBC Young Brass Musician of the Year.
Over the last decade Sheona has been at the forefront of developing new repertoire for the Tenor Horn including the ‘Concerto for Tenor Horn’ by Derek Bourgeois. Recent recording projects included being featured on the Mercury Prize winning album ‘The Seldom Seen Kid’ by the distinguished Manchester band ‘Elbow’.
Sheona is Tenor Horn tutor at the University of Salford, University of Liverpool and University of Manchester and holds the position of Head of Music at Lowton High School.
Sheona is a Yamaha Artist and has been actively involved over the last 3 years with the Yamaha team in developing the new Yamaha prototype professional model Tenor Horn, due for release on the world market in 2010.
