Career
Born and raised in Sydney, Ahern decided to become a composer in his mid-teens, and studied composition under Nigel Butterley and Richard Meale. His first performed work, After Mallarmé, was recorded by the South Australian Symphony Orchestra and was submitted to the International Rostrum of Composers in Paris. He travelled in Europe in the 1960s, studying under Karlheinz Stockhausen in Germany and Cornelius Cardew in London.