''She rides a cycle she calls ''Vida'' from England to Hong Kong and associates the various stops en route to the key signatures of famous classical music pieces. She also has a three-quarter-size violin strapped to her shoulders and ''plays for her supper'' along the way.''
If life is a journey and not a destination, then Emma Ayres has certainly done her share of journeying. Now a successful classical music show host in Melbourne, Cadence: Travels with Music (the ''Cadence'' seems somewhat superfluous) starts (more or less) with Ayres' fatherless family living a hand-to-mouth existence in London. Dad, who lives abroad with wife number two, pops in once a year or so to hand over some cash, otherwise it's over to a hard-working and determined solo mum to ensure Emma and her three siblings are educated and learn the fundamentals of playing a musical instrument.
Being the youngest, Emma gets the instrument hand-me-downs, plus the ancient family bicycle. How she longs for a new bike of her own, one with gears, etc. But mother's determined, too: learn the violin, discover a preference for the viola and become good enough to be chosen for the British Youth Orchestra. Open sesame to a career as a professional musician. But the cycling bug won't stop buzzing and while playing for the Hong Kong Symphony Emma suddenly knows what's missing from her life: adventure and challenge.
There isn't really a chronological beginning or end to Ms Ayres' memoir. However, a full picture emerges of a resourceful and pragmatic young woman who quickly sees that in Muslim countries, being tall, thin, having short hair and being mistaken for a male can be turned to advantage: no need to wear a headscarf etc, though it does get tricky when friendly young males introduce her/him to female family members.
Ever resourceful, fully empathetic, Emma cycles what seems enormous daily mileages, discoursing on the road with fellow travellers, about the history and geography of various stops, and, of course, the music and lives of classical music composers. This reader was with her every pedal of the way.
- Ian Williams is a Dunedin writer and composer.
