Elizabeth Parker is a classically trained musician playing both piano and cello. After her music degree at the University of East Anglia she took a Masters in electronic music. She trained at the BBC as a studio manager, and then joined the BBC's Radiophonic Workshop where she worked for 18 years until the BBC shut it down.

At the Workshop, Elizabeth wrote the music for hundreds of BBC productions including Blakes Seven, David Attenborough's ground-breaking 12-part series The Living Planet and music for Dr Who. During her time here she started a long association with BBC Radios 3 and 4 drama. She also composed for Iris Murdock's The Bell and The Sea, as well as Harold Pinter's Moonlight, for all the plays of Howard Barker produced by Radio 3, Wordsworth's Prelude, The Pallisers, and King Lear.