Books

Memoir:                        Never Miss A Beat  (Ashwood Publishing)

                                       In Exile from St Petersburg: the life and times of Abram Saulovitch Kagan (Brandl & Schlesinger)

Poetry:                          Poems of a single breath  (RhythmSpeak Press) 

History:                         A Coveted Possession: the rise and fall of the piano in Australia  (Black Inc)

Musicology:                 Music of the Spirit: Asian-Pacific musical identity, co-edited with Bruce Crossman (Australian Music Centre)

Musical Instruments: Australian Made, Australian Played  e-Book 

                                       Musical Instruments and Sound-Producing Objects of Oceania (Peter Lang AG,Bern) 

Never Miss A Beat

At fifteen, Michael Atherton landed in Sydney carrying one thing only: a cheap guitar he didn’t know how to play. By the 1990s, he was Foundation Professor of Music at the University of Western Sydney, drawing on his self-taught, working-class background to become the driving force behind an innovative, community-minded approach to music education.  

'His story is one of prodigious energy, adaptability and openness to new opportunities. He has striven especially to challenge snobbery in music and to celebrate diversity, collaboration and community.'  Gillian Wills, author/reviewer, Limelight, October 2025. 

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Poems of a Single Breath

‘A Sydney Calendar’ highlights the life of Sydney as the months pass by, and seasons change. During the year, we celebrate events such as Anzac Day, and ‘Vivid’ — a festival of light and sound. ‘Sonifications’ reflects the life of a career musician who travelled the world, learned diverse musical instruments, and enjoyed multicultural collaborations. There is an intriguing overlap between the sounds of nature and the sounds of culture. Poems of a Single Breath comprises the four elements, Earth, Water, Air and Fire, plus Metal and Seasons. It follows the seventeenth-century practice of Basho's haiku by adhering to three lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables, but goes a step further by pairing the author's photos with text. They complement each other, emphasising nature and the built environment.


 

A Coveted Possession: The rise and fall of the piano in Australia

A Coveted Possession: the rise and fall of the piano in Australia (2018), Black Inc/Latrobe, views the piano as an autobiographical object with a hitherto unspoken role in Australian life between 1890-1945. Before electricity brought us the gramophone, the radio and eventually TV, the piano was central to family and community life in colonial Australia. The book is a multi-stranded cultural history that reveals the material, social and political worlds in which the ivories were tinkled. 

‘Michael Atherton cleverly weaves visual, sensual and sonic elements into the piano’s sociocultural history, adding a rich layer to our knowledge of the piano in Australia.’ —Professor Julia Horne, historian


 

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In Exile from Saint Petersburg

Adapted and edited by Michael Atherton

In Exile from Saint Petersburg (2017), Brandl & Schlesinger, follows the life of a man who survived pogroms, incarceration, and exile, but never faltered in his desire to publish works that would enrich culture and society.  From his son Anatol’s reading of the printer’s proofs of Trotsky’s The History of the Russian Revolution and encouraging his father to recall his memories, to Michael Atherton’s scholarship in bringing the biography to the public, In Exile from St Petersburg, engages the reader in the fascinating yet hitherto unknown journey of Abram Saulovich Kagan.

"What an amazing story and what an immense amount of information packed into just 232 pages. In Exile from Petersburg takes you right into the life of a high calibre intellectual named Abram Saulovich Kagan and is set within the turbulent times of early 20th century Europe. This book is well presented in an easy to read and informative style. The chapters contain a chronological account of the life and times of an extraordinary man and are never padded or unnecessarily drawn out." Carl Delprat
 

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Australian Made, Australian Played: Handcrafted musical instruments from didjeridu to the synthesizer

'This splendid book is not only informative and interesting; its personal and descriptive style of writing also makes it very readable. More importantly, the tireless research demonstrated in this book should be praised for its creative role in alerting us all, Australians in particular, to the wealth and quality of instrument making in Australia. We have continued, with less and less justification, to import and buy expensive foreign instruments which are often no better than our own, and often not as good. We also have exceptional makers who are among the very best in the world. They are deserving of our continued support. Australian Made, Australian Played will encourage the makers and help guide musicians and the general public towards greater awareness of this growing tradition in Australia.' John Williams (classical guitar virtuoso)


 

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Musical Instruments and Sound-Producing Objects of Oceania

Michael Atherton

This book is in four sections on the regions of Oceania: Indigenous Australia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Introductory essays and high-quality photographs reveal the treasures of the Australian Museum’s collection. 


 

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Music of the Spirit

Edited by Michael Atherton & Bruce Crossman

Music of the Spirit - Asian-Pacific Musical Identity 

The book consists of 18 refereed papers by prominent composers, artists, and academics. The collection was edited by Bruce Crossman and Michael Atherton of the University of Western Sydney. The subjects of individual essays range from the use of Asian-Pacific musics in composition in the primary school classroom, to reinterpreting shakuhachi traditions in a contemporary music context. There are also many analytical articles focusing on specific works by Australian composers, including Ross Edwards, Clare Maclean and Andrián Pertout, as well as texts written from a performer's perspective.