After studying flute, clarinet, piano and composition at the Royal College of Music in London, Barbara Thompson performed and recorded intermittently with the National Jazz Orchestra, where she met her future husband, drummer Jon Hiseman. In 1975 she formed the jazz-rock group Paraphernalia, which became her main outlet for composing and performing. Mixing Sri Lankan folk tunes, English country music and modern jazz, Paraphernalia toured extensively throughout Europe and performed at major jazz festivals. In 1988, Thompson's CONCERT FOR SAXOPHONE AND ORCHESTRA was premiered in Freiburg, Germany, while her SONGS FROM THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH (1991) was used as the title theme to the popular U.K. television series A TOUCH OF FROST. Diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, Thompson continued to record and occasionally perform live and tour into the new millennium, while devoting much of her energies to composing.