Sharon Atkinson served as the acting principal clarinetist for the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra recordings Collage and Lark Ascending. She played Bb/Eb clarinet for the WSO recording Akasha. Sharon’s work performing clarinet and bass clarinet on Sefarad was recognized with a Western Canadian Music Award nomination. In 2017, the WSO recording of Going Home Star, on which she played clarinet, won the Juno for classical album of the year.
Sharon Atkinson (née Pearson) also toured internationally from Alaska to Honolulu and Singapore to Hong Kong with productions of Les Misérables and Phantom of the Opera. In recent years, Sharon played multiple woodwind instruments for 9 musicals at the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre. The summer of 2025 marked her 23rd musical at Rainbow Stage in her hometown of Winnipeg.
Sharon has performed symphonies, operas, ballets, or musical theatre on clarinets and saxes under the baton of David Agler, Elisabeth Baird, Tad Biernacki, Andrey Boreyko, Roger Cantrell, Richard Coombs, Charles Cozens, Paul DeGurse, Victor Feldbrill, Don Horsburgh, Roy Goodman, Jeffrey Huard, Yuri Klaz, Simon LeClerc, Bobby McFerrin, Bob McMullin, Melody McShane, Alexander Mickelthwate, John Miller, Marek Norman, Tyrone Paterson, Julian Pellicano, Daniel Raiskin, Floydd Ricketts, Earl Stafford, Andrew St. Hilaire, Paul Sportelli, Simon Streatfeild, David Thompson, Bramwell Tovey, Joseph Tritt, Naomi Woo, and Stephen Woodjetts.