William Shield
William Shield, born on March 5, 1748 in Swalwell near Gateshead, County Durham,
was an English composer, violinist, and violist. He began his musical education
under his father before studying with Charles Avison in Newcastle upon Tyne.
Shield established himself as a noted violinist in Newcastle subscription
concerts, later leading a theatre orchestra in Scarborough and joining Covent
Garden in 1772 as a violinist and from 1773 as principal violist. His
breakthrough came with the comic opera The Flitch of Bacon (1778) and the
English light opera Rosina (1781). Shield’s career i...
