{"id":48256,"date":"2025-10-10T15:44:02","date_gmt":"2025-10-10T13:44:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.world-film-festival.com\/?p=48256"},"modified":"2025-10-10T15:50:42","modified_gmt":"2025-10-10T13:50:42","slug":"interview-with-john-aylward-producer-and-composer-for-oblivion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.world-film-festival.com\/en\/interview-with-john-aylward-producer-and-composer-for-oblivion\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview with John Aylward, Producer and Composer, for Oblivion"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"fusion-fullwidth fullwidth-box fusion-builder-row-1 fusion-flex-container has-pattern-background has-mask-background nonhundred-percent-fullwidth non-hundred-percent-height-scrolling\" style=\"--awb-border-radius-top-left:0px;--awb-border-radius-top-right:0px;--awb-border-radius-bottom-right:0px;--awb-border-radius-bottom-left:0px;--awb-flex-wrap:wrap;\" ><div class=\"fusion-builder-row fusion-row fusion-flex-align-items-flex-start fusion-flex-content-wrap\" style=\"max-width:1248px;margin-left: calc(-4% \/ 2 );margin-right: calc(-4% \/ 2 );\"><div class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column fusion-builder-column-0 fusion_builder_column_1_1 1_1 fusion-flex-column\" style=\"--awb-bg-size:cover;--awb-width-large:100%;--awb-margin-top-large:0px;--awb-spacing-right-large:1.92%;--awb-margin-bottom-large:20px;--awb-spacing-left-large:1.92%;--awb-width-medium:100%;--awb-order-medium:0;--awb-spacing-right-medium:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-medium:1.92%;--awb-width-small:100%;--awb-order-small:0;--awb-spacing-right-small:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-small:1.92%;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper fusion-column-has-shadow fusion-flex-justify-content-flex-start fusion-content-layout-column\"><div class=\"fusion-video fusion-youtube\" style=\"--awb-max-width:600px;--awb-max-height:360px;--awb-align-self:center;--awb-width:100%;\"><div class=\"video-shortcode\"><lite-youtube videoid=\"UciFsXBh72A\" class=\"landscape\" params=\"wmode=transparent&autoplay=1&amp;enablejsapi=1\" title=\"YouTube video player 1\" data-button-label=\"Play Video\" width=\"600\" height=\"360\" data-thumbnail-size=\"auto\" data-no-cookie=\"on\"><\/lite-youtube><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-builder-row fusion-builder-row-inner fusion-row fusion-flex-align-items-flex-start fusion-flex-content-wrap\" style=\"--awb-flex-grow:0;--awb-flex-grow-medium:0;--awb-flex-grow-small:0;--awb-flex-shrink:0;--awb-flex-shrink-medium:0;--awb-flex-shrink-small:0;width:104% !important;max-width:104% !important;margin-left: calc(-4% \/ 2 );margin-right: calc(-4% \/ 2 );\"><div class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column_inner fusion-builder-nested-column-0 fusion_builder_column_inner_1_1 1_1 fusion-flex-column\" style=\"--awb-bg-size:cover;--awb-width-large:100%;--awb-margin-top-large:0px;--awb-spacing-right-large:1.92%;--awb-margin-bottom-large:20px;--awb-spacing-left-large:1.92%;--awb-width-medium:100%;--awb-order-medium:0;--awb-spacing-right-medium:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-medium:1.92%;--awb-width-small:100%;--awb-order-small:0;--awb-spacing-right-small:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-small:1.92%;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper fusion-column-has-shadow fusion-flex-justify-content-flex-start fusion-content-layout-column\"><div class=\"fusion-image-element \" style=\"text-align:center;--awb-caption-title-font-family:var(--h2_typography-font-family);--awb-caption-title-font-weight:var(--h2_typography-font-weight);--awb-caption-title-font-style:var(--h2_typography-font-style);--awb-caption-title-size:var(--h2_typography-font-size);--awb-caption-title-transform:var(--h2_typography-text-transform);--awb-caption-title-line-height:var(--h2_typography-line-height);--awb-caption-title-letter-spacing:var(--h2_typography-letter-spacing);\"><span class=\" fusion-imageframe imageframe-none imageframe-1 hover-type-none\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"262\" alt=\"Best Musical Film\" title=\"Best Musical Film\" src=\"https:\/\/www.world-film-festival.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Laurier-Winner-Avril-2025-scaled.png\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.world-film-festival.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Laurier-Winner-Avril-2025-600x262.png\" class=\"lazyload img-responsive wp-image-48250\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%275000%27%20height%3D%272182%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%205000%202182%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%275000%27%20height%3D%272182%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.world-film-festival.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Laurier-Winner-Avril-2025-200x87.png 200w, https:\/\/www.world-film-festival.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Laurier-Winner-Avril-2025-400x175.png 400w, https:\/\/www.world-film-festival.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Laurier-Winner-Avril-2025-600x262.png 600w, https:\/\/www.world-film-festival.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Laurier-Winner-Avril-2025-800x349.png 800w, https:\/\/www.world-film-festival.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Laurier-Winner-Avril-2025-1200x524.png 1200w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column fusion-builder-column-1 fusion_builder_column_1_1 1_1 fusion-flex-column\" style=\"--awb-bg-size:cover;--awb-width-large:100%;--awb-margin-top-large:0px;--awb-spacing-right-large:1.92%;--awb-margin-bottom-large:20px;--awb-spacing-left-large:1.92%;--awb-width-medium:100%;--awb-order-medium:0;--awb-spacing-right-medium:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-medium:1.92%;--awb-width-small:100%;--awb-order-small:0;--awb-spacing-right-small:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-small:1.92%;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper fusion-column-has-shadow fusion-flex-justify-content-flex-start fusion-content-layout-column\"><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-1\" style=\"--awb-text-color:var(--awb-color4);--awb-text-font-family:&quot;LemonMilk&quot;;--awb-text-font-style:normal;--awb-text-font-weight:400;\"><h6>John Aylward, it is a pleasure to e-meet you! A warm welcome to this interview with the World Film Festival in Cannes. You won the award for Best Musical Film. Please accept all our congratulations. What would be your message to the festival and your audience in France and internationally?<\/h6>\n<\/div><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-2\"><p>Thank you for that warm welcome. I am honored that Oblivion won Best Musical Film at the World Film Festival in Cannes this year, and to all those in France and internationally, I would say thank you so much for your interest and support. Independent films are not easy to get off the ground, and it\u2019s the kind of love and warmth from all corners of the globe that make film projects like Oblivion worthwhile.<\/p>\n<\/div><div class=\"fusion-image-element \" style=\"text-align:center;--awb-caption-title-font-family:var(--h2_typography-font-family);--awb-caption-title-font-weight:var(--h2_typography-font-weight);--awb-caption-title-font-style:var(--h2_typography-font-style);--awb-caption-title-size:var(--h2_typography-font-size);--awb-caption-title-transform:var(--h2_typography-text-transform);--awb-caption-title-line-height:var(--h2_typography-line-height);--awb-caption-title-letter-spacing:var(--h2_typography-letter-spacing);\"><span class=\" fusion-imageframe imageframe-none imageframe-2 hover-type-none\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"305\" alt=\"Oblivion\" title=\"Oblivion\" src=\"https:\/\/www.world-film-festival.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Oblivion-Still-3.png\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.world-film-festival.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Oblivion-Still-3-600x305.png\" class=\"lazyload img-responsive wp-image-48249\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%273388%27%20height%3D%271720%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%203388%201720%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%273388%27%20height%3D%271720%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.world-film-festival.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Oblivion-Still-3-200x102.png 200w, https:\/\/www.world-film-festival.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Oblivion-Still-3-400x203.png 400w, https:\/\/www.world-film-festival.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Oblivion-Still-3-600x305.png 600w, https:\/\/www.world-film-festival.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Oblivion-Still-3-800x406.png 800w, https:\/\/www.world-film-festival.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Oblivion-Still-3-1200x609.png 1200w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/span><\/div><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-3\" style=\"--awb-text-color:var(--awb-color4);--awb-text-font-family:&quot;LemonMilk&quot;;--awb-text-font-style:normal;--awb-text-font-weight:400;\"><h6>According to The Boston Globe, your music is \u201cdelicate and deep, all at once\u201d, and Gramophone has called Aylward\u2019s music \u201cmysterious, iridescent and daring\u201d. Would you care to discuss such awesome accolades?<\/h6>\n<\/div><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-4\"><p>That\u2019s very kind of you. I am always thrilled when a major reviewer takes note of what I\u2019m doing. So often, composers and artists work without much recognition. As I\u2019ve gotten a little older, I\u2019ve realized that I\u2019m trying to thread a needle between being a little surreal but relatable, and I think that critics have been picking up on that fine line. I\u2019m glad they\u2019re encouraging audiences to get to know the work \u2013 I want to share it!<\/p>\n<\/div><div class=\"fusion-image-element \" style=\"text-align:center;--awb-caption-title-font-family:var(--h2_typography-font-family);--awb-caption-title-font-weight:var(--h2_typography-font-weight);--awb-caption-title-font-style:var(--h2_typography-font-style);--awb-caption-title-size:var(--h2_typography-font-size);--awb-caption-title-transform:var(--h2_typography-text-transform);--awb-caption-title-line-height:var(--h2_typography-line-height);--awb-caption-title-letter-spacing:var(--h2_typography-letter-spacing);\"><span class=\" fusion-imageframe imageframe-none imageframe-3 hover-type-none\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"411\" alt=\"Oblivion\" title=\"Oblivion Opera, Nina Guo, Green Hill Park, Worcester, MA, August 13, 2022sm\" src=\"https:\/\/www.world-film-festival.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Oblivion-Opera-Nina-Guo-Green-Hill-Park-Worcester-MA-August-13-2022sm.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.world-film-festival.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Oblivion-Opera-Nina-Guo-Green-Hill-Park-Worcester-MA-August-13-2022sm-600x411.jpg\" class=\"lazyload img-responsive wp-image-48246\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%272280%27%20height%3D%271560%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%202280%201560%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%272280%27%20height%3D%271560%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.world-film-festival.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Oblivion-Opera-Nina-Guo-Green-Hill-Park-Worcester-MA-August-13-2022sm-200x137.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.world-film-festival.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Oblivion-Opera-Nina-Guo-Green-Hill-Park-Worcester-MA-August-13-2022sm-400x274.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.world-film-festival.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Oblivion-Opera-Nina-Guo-Green-Hill-Park-Worcester-MA-August-13-2022sm-600x411.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.world-film-festival.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Oblivion-Opera-Nina-Guo-Green-Hill-Park-Worcester-MA-August-13-2022sm-800x547.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.world-film-festival.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Oblivion-Opera-Nina-Guo-Green-Hill-Park-Worcester-MA-August-13-2022sm-1200x821.jpg 1200w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/span><\/div><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-5\" style=\"--awb-text-color:var(--awb-color4);--awb-text-font-family:&quot;LemonMilk&quot;;--awb-text-font-style:normal;--awb-text-font-weight:400;\"><h6>This opera explores the idea that the afterlife is the expression of our conceptions of a post-apocalyptic world. How did you arrive at a choice of score for this theme, and where did you draw your inspiration from? Do you consider that humanity could be currently going through what Nietzsche saw as the pre-apocalyptic era, fraught with war and earthquakes?<\/h6>\n<\/div><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-6\"><p>It\u2019s interesting you bring up Nietzsche. I just finished an orchestral work based around his concept of the \u201cEternal Return.\u201d I do think that we are living through a very palpable moment in a larger human cycle. You touch on the similarity between our conception of the afterlife and our ideas of apocalypse or revelation. These may be more connected than we think. The original idea of the apocalypse is a revealing or pulling back of the curtain, and <i>Oblivion<\/i> grapples with what it must feel like to be on the precipice of that unveiling. Would we want to know if we could? The wanderers make different choices so that the audience can ask what choice they might make. I\u2019m not saying the afterlife is what we traditionally consider post-apocalyptic, but rather that our sense of self is so dependent on memory and lived experience that we sometimes lose sight of who we might be when those things are stripped away.<\/p>\n<\/div><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-7\" style=\"--awb-text-color:var(--awb-color4);--awb-text-font-family:&quot;LemonMilk&quot;;--awb-text-font-style:normal;--awb-text-font-weight:400;\"><h6>The film opens with a quotation: \u201cNow we came to the empty shore. Upon those waters no one ever sailed who then experienced their return.\u201d The screenplay and music drew their mythos from Dante\u2019s <i>Purgatory<\/i>. How does this resonate with your background, having grown up in the Sonoran Desert on the border of Arizona and Mexico, and yourself a child of an immigrant mother from Germany and a World War II refugee?<\/h6>\n<\/div><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-8\"><p>Dante absolutely underpins the opera, and I think the general dialogue between the wanderers and the mythological characters has overtones of Dante\u2019s various dialogues as he progresses through the circles of Purgatory. My early life was definitely shaped by tenuous circumstances. The Sonoran Desert is amazing but also unforgiving. The economies at the border are difficult despite many inspiring and beautiful communities taking care of each other. Though I loved being there, I\u2019ve always had my mother\u2019s wanderlust, no doubt ingrained from her own experiences as a refugee. So I grew up with a sense that everything is <i>temporary and contingent<\/i>. I think <i>Oblivion<\/i> is suffused with that same energy.<\/p>\n<\/div><div class=\"fusion-image-element \" style=\"text-align:center;--awb-caption-title-font-family:var(--h2_typography-font-family);--awb-caption-title-font-weight:var(--h2_typography-font-weight);--awb-caption-title-font-style:var(--h2_typography-font-style);--awb-caption-title-size:var(--h2_typography-font-size);--awb-caption-title-transform:var(--h2_typography-text-transform);--awb-caption-title-line-height:var(--h2_typography-line-height);--awb-caption-title-letter-spacing:var(--h2_typography-letter-spacing);\"><span class=\" fusion-imageframe imageframe-none imageframe-4 hover-type-none\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"300\" alt=\"Oblivion\" title=\"Oblivion\" src=\"https:\/\/www.world-film-festival.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Oblivion-Still-1.png\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.world-film-festival.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Oblivion-Still-1-600x300.png\" class=\"lazyload img-responsive wp-image-48247\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%273432%27%20height%3D%271718%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%203432%201718%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%273432%27%20height%3D%271718%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.world-film-festival.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Oblivion-Still-1-200x100.png 200w, https:\/\/www.world-film-festival.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Oblivion-Still-1-400x200.png 400w, https:\/\/www.world-film-festival.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Oblivion-Still-1-600x300.png 600w, https:\/\/www.world-film-festival.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Oblivion-Still-1-800x400.png 800w, https:\/\/www.world-film-festival.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Oblivion-Still-1-1200x601.png 1200w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/span><\/div><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-9\" style=\"--awb-text-color:var(--awb-color4);--awb-text-font-family:&quot;LemonMilk&quot;;--awb-text-font-style:normal;--awb-text-font-weight:400;\"><h6>Laine Rettmer\u2019s past opera productions have been praised as \u201cwickedly smart\u201d and \u201cdevastatingly funny\u201d by The New York Times, and \u201cnot only profound but also shattering\u201d by the UK\u2019s Observer. How would you define her style personally?<\/h6>\n<\/div><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-10\"><p>Laine is a great director and visual artist. She and I had a strong working relationship prior to <i>Oblivion<\/i>, and I wanted her to direct the shoot. She was great with the musicians, and she understands how to get operatic singers to <i>act<\/i>. This is why I think the acting in <i>Oblivion<\/i> feels so natural, even though it\u2019s underscored by a constant sense of surrealism from the score and melodic treatments. In the end, the result is very <i>Lynchian<\/i>, and I think our collaboration made that possible.<\/p>\n<\/div><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-11\" style=\"--awb-text-color:var(--awb-color4);--awb-text-font-family:&quot;LemonMilk&quot;;--awb-text-font-style:normal;--awb-text-font-weight:400;\"><h6>What are the two most inspirational operas of all time?<\/h6>\n<\/div><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-12\"><p>It\u2019s too hard to pick two! Off the top of my head, I\u2019d say <i>Lulu<\/i> and <i>The Magic Flute<\/i>. Tomorrow I might pick two different ones!<\/p>\n<\/div><div class=\"fusion-image-element \" style=\"text-align:center;--awb-caption-title-font-family:var(--h2_typography-font-family);--awb-caption-title-font-weight:var(--h2_typography-font-weight);--awb-caption-title-font-style:var(--h2_typography-font-style);--awb-caption-title-size:var(--h2_typography-font-size);--awb-caption-title-transform:var(--h2_typography-text-transform);--awb-caption-title-line-height:var(--h2_typography-line-height);--awb-caption-title-letter-spacing:var(--h2_typography-letter-spacing);\"><span class=\" fusion-imageframe imageframe-none imageframe-5 hover-type-none\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"304\" alt=\"Oblivion\" title=\"Oblivion\" src=\"https:\/\/www.world-film-festival.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Oblivion-Still-2.png\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.world-film-festival.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Oblivion-Still-2-600x304.png\" class=\"lazyload img-responsive wp-image-48248\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%273384%27%20height%3D%271714%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%203384%201714%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%273384%27%20height%3D%271714%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.world-film-festival.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Oblivion-Still-2-200x101.png 200w, https:\/\/www.world-film-festival.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Oblivion-Still-2-400x203.png 400w, https:\/\/www.world-film-festival.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Oblivion-Still-2-600x304.png 600w, https:\/\/www.world-film-festival.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Oblivion-Still-2-800x405.png 800w, https:\/\/www.world-film-festival.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Oblivion-Still-2-1200x608.png 1200w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/span><\/div><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-13\" style=\"--awb-text-color:var(--awb-color4);--awb-text-font-family:&quot;LemonMilk&quot;;--awb-text-font-style:normal;--awb-text-font-weight:400;\"><h6>Tell us about the Etchings Festival in Auvillar that you founded in France, and any forthcoming projects you might want to share with us?<\/h6>\n<\/div><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-14\"><p>When I was coming up as an artist, there were few spaces where my kind of interests were being cultivated. So I started <i>Etchings<\/i> in France to create more dialogue between US and European musicians. It helped broaden my own scope of what was possible through collaboration. I\u2019m thrilled to share the World Film Festival award with colleagues back in the US because of this drive. Upcoming projects include more orchestral work, another opera, and another film. It\u2019s a great feeling to be working across so many media and to feel at home with the right collaborators. Who knows where the work will go?<\/p>\n<\/div><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-15\" style=\"--awb-text-color:var(--awb-color4);--awb-text-font-family:&quot;LemonMilk&quot;;--awb-text-font-style:normal;--awb-text-font-weight:400;\"><h6>What is your vision of post-Covid cinema?<\/h6>\n<\/div><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-16\"><p>I am exceptionally honored to accept the award for Best Musical Film at the 2025 World Film Festival in Cannes because I believe opera is a genre particularly suited to post-Covid film. As we move into politically uncertain and unstable times, arts organizations need to work together to share resources in order to deliver thought-provoking content to their audiences. There is an opportunity for opera to look to film as a way of reaching broader audiences without sacrificing the staging and direction that make live opera so exciting. <b>Hybrid forms will define the next generation of art-making.<\/b> I am honored that the World Film Festival in Cannes saw this potential in <i>Oblivion<\/i>, and I hope to share the work with many presenters in the future as an example of how we can reach and engage new audiences for both film and opera.<\/p>\n<\/div><div class=\"fusion-builder-row fusion-builder-row-inner fusion-row fusion-flex-align-items-flex-start fusion-flex-content-wrap\" style=\"--awb-flex-grow:0;--awb-flex-grow-medium:0;--awb-flex-grow-small:0;--awb-flex-shrink:0;--awb-flex-shrink-medium:0;--awb-flex-shrink-small:0;width:104% !important;max-width:104% !important;margin-left: calc(-4% \/ 2 );margin-right: calc(-4% \/ 2 );\"><div class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column_inner fusion-builder-nested-column-1 fusion_builder_column_inner_1_2 1_2 fusion-flex-column\" style=\"--awb-bg-size:cover;--awb-width-large:50%;--awb-margin-top-large:0px;--awb-spacing-right-large:3.84%;--awb-margin-bottom-large:20px;--awb-spacing-left-large:3.84%;--awb-width-medium:50%;--awb-order-medium:0;--awb-spacing-right-medium:3.84%;--awb-spacing-left-medium:3.84%;--awb-width-small:100%;--awb-order-small:0;--awb-spacing-right-small:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-small:1.92%;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper fusion-column-has-shadow fusion-flex-justify-content-flex-start fusion-content-layout-column\"><div class=\"fusion-title title fusion-title-1 fusion-title-center fusion-title-text fusion-title-size-four\" style=\"--awb-margin-top-small:10px;--awb-margin-right-small:0px;--awb-margin-bottom-small:10px;--awb-margin-left-small:0px;\"><div class=\"title-sep-container title-sep-container-left\"><div class=\"title-sep sep-double sep-dashed\" style=\"border-color:var(--awb-color4);\"><\/div><\/div><span class=\"awb-title-spacer\"><\/span><h4 class=\"fusion-title-heading title-heading-center\" style=\"margin:0;\">BIO<\/h4><span class=\"awb-title-spacer\"><\/span><div class=\"title-sep-container title-sep-container-right\"><div class=\"title-sep sep-double sep-dashed\" style=\"border-color:var(--awb-color4);\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-17\" style=\"--awb-text-color:var(--awb-color4);--awb-text-font-family:&quot;LemonMilk&quot;;--awb-text-font-style:normal;--awb-text-font-weight:400;\"><h4>Biography &#8211; <b>John Aylward<\/b><\/h4>\n<\/div><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-18\"><p>\u201cWe hear brilliant, energetic rhythmic figures&#8230; imaginative sonorities and harmonies that always move, always inflect. Also striking are the zones of suspended motion and otherworldly calm.\u201d<br \/>\n\u2014 <i>American Academy of Arts and Letters<\/i><\/p>\n<p>John Aylward is a composer and multimedia artist living in Northampton, Massachusetts. He is Professor of Music at Clark University and Director of Ecce Arts, a non-profit performing arts ensemble and advocacy group.<\/p>\n<p><i>The Boston Globe<\/i> has described Aylward\u2019s music as \u201cdelicate and deep, all at once,\u201d and <i>Gramophone<\/i> has called his work \u201cmysterious, iridescent, and daring.\u201d The Canadian review <i>Textura<\/i> praised his monodrama <i>Angelus<\/i> as \u201cgripping music of a high order,\u201d while <i>Opera Wire<\/i> called his recent opera <i>Oblivion<\/i> \u201ca brilliant piece of drama.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Aylward\u2019s recent awards and fellowships include those from the John S. Guggenheim Foundation, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Radcliffe Institute at Harvard University, the Koussevitzky Commission from the Library of Congress, the Fromm Foundation, MacDowell, Tanglewood, the Atlantic Center for the Arts, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, the International Society for Contemporary Music (First Prize), among many others.<\/p>\n<p>His work is inspired by a range of literary and philosophical authors. His mother, a German immigrant and World War II refugee, shaped much of his understanding of war, displacement, migration, and authoritarianism. Much of Aylward\u2019s music also reflects his youth in the Sonoran Desert on the Arizona-Mexico border, where intertwined cultures and vast, otherworldly landscapes continue to inform his artistic voice.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column_inner fusion-builder-nested-column-2 fusion_builder_column_inner_1_2 1_2 fusion-flex-column fusion-flex-align-self-center\" style=\"--awb-bg-size:cover;--awb-width-large:50%;--awb-margin-top-large:0px;--awb-spacing-right-large:3.84%;--awb-margin-bottom-large:20px;--awb-spacing-left-large:3.84%;--awb-width-medium:50%;--awb-order-medium:0;--awb-spacing-right-medium:3.84%;--awb-spacing-left-medium:3.84%;--awb-width-small:100%;--awb-order-small:0;--awb-spacing-right-small:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-small:1.92%;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper fusion-column-has-shadow fusion-flex-justify-content-flex-start fusion-content-layout-column\"><div class=\"fusion-image-element \" style=\"text-align:center;--awb-caption-title-font-family:var(--h2_typography-font-family);--awb-caption-title-font-weight:var(--h2_typography-font-weight);--awb-caption-title-font-style:var(--h2_typography-font-style);--awb-caption-title-size:var(--h2_typography-font-size);--awb-caption-title-transform:var(--h2_typography-text-transform);--awb-caption-title-line-height:var(--h2_typography-line-height);--awb-caption-title-letter-spacing:var(--h2_typography-letter-spacing);\"><span class=\" fusion-imageframe imageframe-none imageframe-6 hover-type-none\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"800\" alt=\"John Aylward\" title=\"John Aylward\" src=\"https:\/\/www.world-film-festival.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/john_aylward_headshots_055.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.world-film-festival.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/john_aylward_headshots_055.jpg\" class=\"lazyload img-responsive wp-image-48245\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27600%27%20height%3D%27800%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20600%20800%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27600%27%20height%3D%27800%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.world-film-festival.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/john_aylward_headshots_055-200x267.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.world-film-festival.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/john_aylward_headshots_055-400x533.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.world-film-festival.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/john_aylward_headshots_055.jpg 600w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/span><\/div><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-19\"><p>More about John\u2019s music can be found at <a href=\"http:\/\/johnaylward.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">johnaylward.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-20\"><p>\u00a92025 Isabelle Rouault-R\u00f6hlich<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":143,"featured_media":48244,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[107],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interviews-en"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Interview with John Aylward, Producer and Composer, for Oblivion<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Discover composer and producer John Aylward, winner of Best Musical Film at the World Film Festival in Cannes 2025 for OBLIVION, co-directed with Laine Rettmer. 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