Shelagh Heath was born in Edinburgh, Scotland and began cello lessons at the age of seven with Mary Robertson. She entered the Junior Department of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow and then moved to London to gain her music degree at the Royal Academy of Music. Among her teachers were Alexander Baillie, Douglas Cummings, Jennifer Ward Clarke (baroque and modern cello), Beth Macdonald and Patricia Hair. While studying in London she was highly commended in the May Mukle Concerto Prize, won prizes in the Croft Early Music Competition and performed for two years as principal cellist of the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland. From 1992 to 1995 Shelagh served as the principal cellist of Camerata Scotland. She joined the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra in 1995. In 2002 she spent a year freelancing in the UK and then returned to HK to perform for two seasons with the Hong Kong Sinfonietta. Shelagh has been performing with the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong since 2001. She appears in various venues in HK as a chamber musician and teaches cello privately.