Michael Atherton: A lifetime student of music from ancient Egypt, medieval Europe and beyond

Michael Atherton has had his fingers in so many musical pies it's hard to know how to sum him up. He is a composer, a music therapist, an educator, a writer of books and a multi-instrumentalist. Indeed, with the Renaissance Players, Sirocco, The Atherton Table Band and Southern Crossings, he has played so many instruments he must have lost count. Just turned 75, he can add memoirist to his list of achievements, and that was our cue to get him into the studio for a long chat and attempt to make sense of his varied career.

Michael's memoir Never Miss A Beat is out now via Ashwood Publishing.