Her output as a composer encompasses symphonies, ballets, operas, concertos, and other works for ensembles, as well as music for TV, film, and theatre.
[6] Her early musical experience included playing the violin in various youth symphony orchestras in London, and choral singing with local choirs in Newham.
[6] She set up the Shirley Thompson Ensemble[8] in 1994 and this became the main vehicle for her instrumental and vocal works that fused contemporary classical orchestrations with popular and world music styles.
Thompson began to focus on full orchestral composition with New Nation Rising, A 21st Century Symphony, first performed in 2004 and recorded by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra[10][11] to celebrate one thousand years of London's history.
[12][13] Alongside Andy Cowton and Carlos Montoya, Thompson co-scored the award-winning[14] ballet PUSH, which premiered in 2005 and has since toured the world in major and prestigious venues, among them: Sadler's Wells, the London Coliseum, New York City Center and the Sydney Opera House.
[6] In 2010, Thompson was announced in the Powerlist of Britain's 100 Most Influential Black People 2010,[20][21] an accolade that would be repeated in subsequent years, including being listed in the Top 10 for 2018.
[29][30][31] In April 2016 she was honoured with the Luminary Award[32] (presented to people of Caribbean heritage who have made significant, outstanding contributions on an international scale or have brought to prominence issues that affect the Caribbean region, with previous recipients including Bob Marley, Harry Belafonte, Jimmy Cliff, Louise Bennett and Derek Walcott) at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Benefit Gala in Toronto, Canada.