Shelagh Heath was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. She began cello lessons at the age of seven with Mary Robertson and continued her musical education at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama Junior Department, Glasgow and the Royal Academy of Music, London. Her teachers included Alexander Baillie, Douglas Cummings, Jennifer Ward Clarke (baroque and modern cello,) Beth Macdonald and Patricia Hair. While studying at the Royal Academy of Music she was highly commended in the May Mukle concerto prize and won prizes in the Croft Early Music competition.

Shelagh was principal cellist with the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland from 1989 to 1990 and was principal cellist of Camerata Scotland from 1992 to 1995. She came to Hong Kong in 1995 to join the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. Since then she has appeared in various venues in Hong Kong as a chamber musician and has played principal cello with the City Chamber Orchestra. In 2002 she returned to the U.K. to freelance for one year, after which she returned to Hong Kong, where she performed for two seasons with the Hong Kong Sinfonietta. Shelagh is now freelancing and teaching privately in Hong Kong.