Susan Addison was born in 1955 in Louth, Lincolnshire and attended Monksdyke High School. She has said she was fifteen when she started learning the trombone, and only chose that instrument as that was the only one available to play at her school. She is a performer of the sackbut, tenor trombone, and other early trombones, and is a specialist in using authentic instruments of the age to play historical music. Following studies of the trombone at the Royal College of Music London, Addison joined the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra where she remained for four and a half years.
