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Shirley Walker was born in Napa, California, in 1945. She graduated from Pleasant Hill High School and attended San Francisco State College on a piano scholarship. She studied composition under Dr. Roger Nixon and piano with Harald Logan in Berkeley, California. While still in high school, she performed as a soloist with the San Francisco Symphony and played with various hotel, jazz, and art bands in San Francisco from 1964 to 1967.
From 1967 to 1978, she worked on industrial films and jingles. She served as pianist for the Oakland Symphony Orchestra for two seasons and the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra for two seasons. Her memberships include the American Federation of Musicians (AFM) since 1962; the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (NARAS) since 1978; the American Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers (ASCAP) since 1980; the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS) since 1987—where she served on the Awards Committee from 1987 to 1988; the Society of Composers & Lyricists (SCL) since 1985, serving as Vice President from 1988 to 1992, on the Board of Directors from 1986 to 1994, and on the Working Conditions Committee from 1987 to 1989. She authored the SCL Working Conditions Questionnaire and contributed articles to The Score, the SCL periodical, including topics such as Packaging Scores, The Business of Quality Orchestration, New Low Budget Film Rate, Assumption Agreements, and the Special Payments Fund. She has been a member of the Recording Musicians Association (RMA) since 1990, serving on its Board of Directors since 1994; Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI) since 1993; and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences (AMPAS) since 1994, where she has been part of the Executive Music Branch Committee.
In 1967, she married Don Walker, and they had two sons: Colin, born in 1970, and Ian, born in 1972.
