Composer Sue Aston graduated from Birmingham Conservatoire and freelanced as a professional violinist with symphony and chamber orchestras, as well as doing sessions for rock and folk bands, both as an orchestral member and as a soloist. It was also during this time that she appeared on classical recordings, radio and television, both nationally and internationally, and worked with eminent musicians such as Simon Rattle, Nigel Kennedy, Peter Donohoe, Yehudi Menuhin, Sir Charles Groves and Esa Pekka Salonen.