Sharon Ashton
"Singing in front of a live audience is the air I breath..”
​Sharon honed her craft from the age of 11 years old, working as a function singer and cabaret artiste around the formidable club land of the North of England. By the time she was 18 she was able to refine her act, stage presence and quick wit by working as the opener and support for some of the famous names of comedy at the time including Freddie Star, Bernard Manning, Ken Dodd, Frank Carson, Mick Miller, Jim Davidson, Russ Abbot, Jimmy Tarbuck, Bob Monkhouse, Cannon and Ball and many others. This work took her further afield and proved invaluable when working in cabaret as both singer and host. With a professional performance career that now spans over 30 years, she has performed over 5500 live shows in the UK, Australia, Oman, Senegal, Malaysia and the USA. She has performed residencies in venues around the world including four months at Caesars Palace as an opening act to famous headliners.
Performing live has given Sharon the opportunity to work with numerous and very differing artistes including Snow Patrol, Daniel Beddingfield, Beautiful South, Edwin Star, The Three Degrees, The Supremes, Barbara Dickson, Jimmy Ruffin, Honor Blackman, Michael Ball, Sir Carl Davis and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra along with many others. Big arena events and festivals; opening of sporting events and stadium shows have seen her perform to crowds of between 4000 and 25,000 people. She is equally as happy performingng to few or many.
TV, Film, Theatre and Recording
​
Sharon's TV appearances started in 1985 on children’s BBC TV in a show called "You Should be so Lucky". A talent show for kids with a twist as the contestants had to play a game of snake and ladders and which ever square they landed they would have to either sing, dance or act! Fast forward and Sharon found herself back on TV in yet another talent show with a twist but this time as a judge. Hosted by Rob Beckett All Together Now was a singing competition come game show with a prize of £50,000. To win the prize though you had to impress Sharon and 99 other judges from the music industry who make up The 100- TV’s largest judging panel. Sharon was part of the judging panel in Series 1 (2018); Christmas Celebrity Special and Series 2 (2019) Throughout her career as a live performer she has been highlighted on Esther Rantzen's 'That’s Life’; BBC North West Tonight; BBC London; Granada News; Sky 1; Star Channel (Asia); BBC 3; RTF 4 (Dutch) and Liverpool Channel One.
As a Voice Over artiste, Sharon has provided her voice and vocal talents for projects as diverse as children’s audio books to games. She is the voice of all of the female characters for the award winning Sony Studio Psygnosis computer game 'Ecstatica'; and has been a voice artiste for Tava Spirit Ltd Meditation Products.
Other session work has included 'Ghost' vocals; session and backing vocals; recording instructional manuals and radio Ident's, Jingles. Her ability to act on both theatre and film means she has managed to work in some great productions alongside her busy singing and teaching career.
Sharon’s other television, film and radio appearances include Creed with Sylvester Stallone; Sherlock Holmes with Robert Downey Jnr; Waterfront Beat; Willy Russell’s Dancing thru the Dark - BBC films; Watching; A Time to Dance with Dervla Kirwin - BBC; Celebration- Brondsky Beat (Documentary of the famed string quartet )- Channel 4, The Traveller with Anita Meyer- RTL4 (Dutch), Coronation Street, Emmerdale, Brookside; Children’s Ward, Families; BBC Radio Luton Christmas (co presenter) and BBC Radio Merseyside (co presenter - Children in Need). Sharon’s theatre experience in between touring includes James and the Giant Peach, The Hobbit, Aladdin, Dick Whittington, Cinderella, Extremities and Music through the Years.
Teaching, Coaching and Conducting
​
Sharon has combined a hugely successful singing career with teaching, coaching and conducting. Her passion and enthusiasm for the vocal arts is both undeniable and totally insatiable. Sharon specialises in Pop, Rock, Dance, and Musical Theatre vocals along with all aspects of acting and drama and has helped develop the careers of many aspiring and professional singers and actors including members of Sugababes, Atomic Kitten, cast members of Mamma Mia, Les Miserables, Chicago and Mamma Mia The Movie.
Sharon is a master teacher with over 20,000 teaching hours. She has Qualified Teacher Status and gained her teaching qualifications through London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA), London College of Music (LCM), Guildhall School of Music, and UCLAN. She also has dance and performance qualifications through ISTD, RAD, Allied and UKA. Sharon’s excellent and very much in demand skills as a singing consultant for both individuals and groups. Over the years, Sharon has coached many young and not so young amateur and professional artistes to prepare for upcoming television appearances such as Stars in Your Eyes, Pop Stars, Britain’s Got Talent, The Voice plus X-Factor.
In 2009 after many years of teaching and providing workshops around the country she decided to open her own performing arts school The Talent Factory (re-named Studio 38) which specialised in making the arts accessible for all.
​
In 2013 she took over as musical director of Just Voices- ladies Barbershop choir and have won Barbershop music festivals six times under her direction. Sharon arranges and records all the four part training tracks.
​
She is a former LIPA lecturer of singing and her students have gone on to successfully gain places at Mountview, Central, Goldsmiths, Arden, Bird, LIPA, Italia Conti, Laine, Rose Bruford, Royal Welsh, Guildford and many other accoladed universities and institutes.
​
She is currently writing a book of tips for vocalists and devising her own singing and acting courses whilst continuing to perform.
​
COMING SOON!
M-POWER CHOIR- an uplifting, all singing, all moving, all performing choir with a difference.
​
