SHEILA SIMPSON, a native Mississippian, has been a musician from a very early age. She played her first solo recital at age eleven, and by fifteen had appeared as soloist with three different orchestras.

Ms. Simpson attended the University of Alabama, studying with Roy McAllister, and received a Masters Degree from the Manhattan School of Music as a student of Dora Zaslavsky, graduating with honors from both institutions. Other teachers have included Beveridge Webster, Adele Marcus, Edna Golandsky, Arminda Canteros and Juana Zayas.

Numerous awards and scholarships enabled her participation in music festivals such as the Brevard Music Center (NC), the Aspen Music Festival, and the Yale Summer School of Music and Art. Additional prizes include the Lura B. Friermood Award; Nan Burt Grant for Piano Study; and Mississippi Music Clubs Scholarships. Competition prizes include the MTNA Southeast College Competition; the Birmingham Symphony, Shreveport Symphony, and Jackson Symphony; and a top prize in the Pinault International Piano Competition with entries from 32 different countries.

Ms. Simpson has performed in New York City's Merkin Hall, Steinway Hall, Lincoln Center, Weill Hall, and at the United Nations. She has appeared as guest soloist with numerous orchestras, and performed chamber music and solo recitals throughout the U.S., as well as performances in London, Munich, Rio de Janiero, Toronto, Japan, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

She has been a featured concert artist, lecturer and adjudicator in various music festivals and universities, most recently at a week-long Teacher's Conference at Mississippi State University (2004). As a teacher she has produced prize-winning students in piano performance and composition.

In the 2004-05 season she perfomed solo recitals on the Arts at Trinity Concert Series in Bayonne, NJ, at the Princeton Theological Seminary, and the Tenri Cultural Institute in New York (sponsored by the Leschetizky Association). She was a guest artist with the Pine Bluff, Arkansas Symphony playing Chopin's Concerto in F minor.

Ms. Simpson is a Steinway Artist.