Memoir, intercontinental cycling adventure, music guide, Cadence is the debut book by one of Australia’s best-loved broadcasters, Emma Ayres.
In her provocative, intelligent, surprising and funny memoir Cadence, Emma cycles her way from England to Hong Kong with a violin she calls Aurelia strapped to her back.
But it is also a journey through the keys, and the music that inspired, shaped and provided refuge for Emma throughout her travels with music – Beethoven quartets, Mahler symphonies, Brahms sonatas, Bach suites…
It is a book of questions too: How does the instrument you play reveal who you are as a person? Should you tell the serious Pakistani chap who has just welcomed you into the men’s quarters of his house that you’re not quite what he thinks you are…?
Emma Ayres is the darling of ABC Classic FM Breakfast. This classically trained musician was for many years a violinist with the Hong Kong Philharmonic. A seminal moment came when Emma was cycling from Shropshire in England to Hong Kong for charity.
The nine-month solo trip allowed for a lot of thinking-time and led Emma to decide two things: learn the cello, and try her hand at radio. She moved to Australia and joined Classic FM in 2004. She also teaches cello.
Cadence is published by ABC Books and is available from Bookworld and all leading book retailers.
Image: Cadence by Emma Ayres