John Aylward

John Aylward’s OBLIVION Sets New International Workshops and Screenings
by Josh Sharpe - Oct 21, 2025

Following its win for “Best Musical Film” at the Cannes World Film Festival earlier this year, composer and librettist John Aylward’s one-act opera film Oblivion has set new performances and screenings this fall in the United States and Italy.

John Aylward’s OBLIVION Wins 'Best Musical Film' at Cannes World Film Festival
by Josh Sharpe - Aug 14, 2025

Composer and librettist John Aylward's one-act chamber opera film Oblivion has won “Best Musical Film” at this year’s Cannes World Film Festival, marking its first major global recognition.

John Aylward to Release Chamber Opera OBLIVION, Inspired By Dante's Purgatorio, Via Soundtrack And Film
by Chloe Rabinowitz - Sep 26, 2023

On Friday, September 22, 2023, composer and librettist John Aylward will release the soundtrack for his one-act chamber opera Oblivion on New Focus Recordings, with a feature-length film through Graham Swon's Ravenserodd Productions scheduled to follow in fall 2023.

The Boston Modern Orchestra Project Begins 26th Season in October
by Stephi Wild - Sep 19, 2023

The Boston Modern Orchestra Project begins its 26th season at New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall, October 7, 2023, at 8:00 p.m. The ambitious program celebrates three world premieres and one East Coast premiere all commissioned by BMOP and written during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Learn more about the performance how to get tickets here!

Actor John Aylward Has Died at 75
by Marissa Tomeo - May 21, 2022

According to Deadline, actor John Aylward has died at 75. Aylward was best known for his performances as Dr. Donald Anspaugh on the hit NBC medical drama series ER, which ran from 1994 through 2009. The Seattle-native joined the series during its third season. 

Clark U. Faculty Composer John Aylward Releases Album, Second During The COVID Pandemic
by A.A. Cristi - Feb 5, 2022

Described by The Boston Globe as “a composer of wide intellectual curiosity,” John Aylward today announced the release of his latest album Celestial Forms and Stories (New Focus Recordings).

Ecce Ensemble Releases Debut Album Today
by A.A. Cristi - Apr 24, 2020

Hailed as “virtuosic (WBUR Radio) for its “creative, sympathetic players…and cornucopia of unusual, extended-technique sounds (The Boston Globe),” the Ecce ensemble today announced the release of its latest album Angelus (New Focus Recordings, TBR April 24, 2020). A 45-minute monodrama by composer John Aylward, Angelus takes its name from Paul Klee's painting Angelus Novus. 

Ecce Ensemble Announces 2019-20 Season
by Julie Musbach - Oct 18, 2019

The Ecce ensemble today announced its 2019-20 season.The Ecce ensemble today announced its 2019-20 season. Ecce's 11th season includes performances of chamber masterworks by today's most innovative composers including Toshio Hosokawa and Christophe Bertrand and multimedia artist Laine Rettmer. In addition, Ecce celebrates its debut recording of John Aylward's monodrama Angelus Novus (New Focus, TBR April 2020). Ecce culminates the season with three residencies: AREA Gallery in Boston, MA (February 2020), Clark University (March 2020), and its 11th annual international Etchings Festival in France (July 2020). 

Photo Flash: Elaine Paige & Wayne Sleep Mark Royal Voluntary Service 80th Anniversary At London Event
by A.A. Cristi - Nov 9, 2018

From supporting the war effort to supporting the NHS, Royal Voluntary Service is marking 80 years of helping others by telling its remarkable story through the power of photographs in a new exhibition, The Gift of Time.

Ecce Ensemble Presents Music by Philippe Hurel and John Aylward
by Christina Mancuso - Apr 11, 2017

As the 2016-17 contemporary music ensemble-in-residence at Cambridge's Le Laboratoire, the Ecce Ensemble completes its French-inspired season with a diverse program juxtaposing American and French music. The concert features chamber performances of masterworks by French composer Philippe Hurel and by American composer John Aylward. The event is also a program of memorials, featuring two of Hurel's significant homage works, Pour Luigi and In Memoriam a Berio, and the world premiere of Aylward's Angelus Novus, an homage to Lee Hyla. 

Ecce Ensemble Ends Season with KINETICS, Today
by BWW News Desk - May 6, 2016

Cambridge, MA (FOR RELEASE 4.11.16) — As the 2015-16 contemporary music ensemble-in-residence at Cambridge's Le Laboratoire, the Ecce Ensemble completes its season with a diverse program of new chamber works by six emerging compositional voices. Inspired by Le Lab's current Random International installation, 150 Milliseconds, the concert's repertoire evokes a panoply of physical and psychological states both human and seemingly otherworldly. Performed by seven-member Ecce Ensemble and special guest vocalist Amanda DeBoer Bartlett, the program includes the world premiere of Already Root by Maxwell Dulaney, New England premieres by Erin Gee, Hillary Zipper, and Anna-Louise Walton, as well as works by Ecce's executive director John Aylward, and the winner of Ecce's 2016 International Call for Scores, Nuno Costa. (Program details are below.)

Ecce Ensemble Ends Season with KINETICS, 5/6
by Matt Smith - Apr 12, 2016

Cambridge, MA (FOR RELEASE 4.11.16) — As the 2015-16 contemporary music ensemble-in-residence at Cambridge's Le Laboratoire, the Ecce Ensemble completes its season with a diverse program of new chamber works by six emerging compositional voices. Inspired by Le Lab's current Random International installation, 150 Milliseconds, the concert's repertoire evokes a panoply of physical and psychological states both human and seemingly otherworldly. Performed by seven-member Ecce Ensemble and special guest vocalist Amanda DeBoer Bartlett, the program includes the world premiere of Already Root by Maxwell Dulaney, New England premieres by Erin Gee, Hillary Zipper, and Anna-Louise Walton, as well as works by Ecce's executive director John Aylward, and the winner of Ecce's 2016 International Call for Scores, Nuno Costa. (Program details are below.)

Ecce Ensemble to Premiere SWITCH Opera, Today
by BWW News Desk - Feb 12, 2016

Cambridge, MA (FOR RELEASE 1.11.16) — As the 2015-16 contemporary music ensemble-in-residence at Cambridge's Le Laboratoire, the Ecce Ensemble premieres Switch, a contemporary opera written and composed by John Aylward, directed by Laine Rettmer (Loft Opera), and conducted by Jean-Philippe Wurtz (Ensemble Linea). Featuring two vocalists—Amanda DeBoer Bartlett (soprano) and Mikhail Smigelskii (bass-baritone)—backed by the Ecce Ensemble, Switch explores the relationship between an artist and his muse. In addition to two consecutive weekends of performances, Ecce hosts two free, complementary events open to the public at Le Lab: Re-Imagining Contemporary Opera, an artist talk with Aylward and Rettmer on February 3rd at 6:30 p.m.; and Composers' Reading Session, a workshop/presentation of young local composers' chamber works led by Wurtz on February 15th at 12:00 p.m.

Ecce Ensemble to Present World Premiere of SWITCH Opera, Today
by BWW News Desk - Feb 12, 2016

Cambridge, MA (FOR RELEASE 1.11.16) — As the 2015-16 contemporary music ensemble-in-residence at Cambridge's Le Laboratoire, the Ecce Ensemble premieres Switch, a contemporary opera written and composed by John Aylward, directed by Laine Rettmer (Loft Opera), and conducted by Jean-Philippe Wurtz (Ensemble Linea). Featuring two vocalists—Amanda DeBoer Bartlett (soprano) and Mikhail Smigelskii (bass-baritone)—backed by the Ecce Ensemble, Switch explores the relationship between an artist and his muse. In addition to two consecutive weekends of performances, Ecce hosts two free, complementary events open to the public at Le Lab: Re-Imagining Contemporary Opera, an artist talk with Aylward and Rettmer on February 3rd at 6:30 p.m.; and Composers' Reading Session, a workshop/presentation of young local composers' chamber works led by Wurtz on February 15th at 12:00 p.m.

Ecce Ensemble to Premiere SWITCH Opera, 2/12
by Matt Smith - Jan 26, 2016

Cambridge, MA (FOR RELEASE 1.11.16) — As the 2015-16 contemporary music ensemble-in-residence at Cambridge's Le Laboratoire, the Ecce Ensemble premieres Switch, a contemporary opera written and composed by John Aylward, directed by Laine Rettmer (Loft Opera), and conducted by Jean-Philippe Wurtz (Ensemble Linea). Featuring two vocalists—Amanda DeBoer Bartlett (soprano) and Mikhail Smigelskii (bass-baritone)—backed by the Ecce Ensemble, Switch explores the relationship between an artist and his muse. In addition to two consecutive weekends of performances, Ecce hosts two free, complementary events open to the public at Le Lab: Re-Imagining Contemporary Opera, an artist talk with Aylward and Rettmer on February 3rd at 6:30 p.m.; and Composers' Reading Session, a workshop/presentation of young local composers' chamber works led by Wurtz on February 15th at 12:00 p.m.