Composer John Aylward releases Angelus, his monodrama for voice and ensemble inspired in equal measure by his mother's experience as a refugee fleeing Europe during World War II, Paul Klee's affecting painting "Angelus Novus," and a series of texts that speak to themes common to her story of displacement and resilience. The performance features soprano Nina Guo in a wide-ranging part with the ECCE Ensemble, of which Aylward is the director. "My music comprises solo works, chamber music, orchestral work and music for film. I'm in the midst of commissions from members of Klangforum Wien and Court-Circuit... In recent seasons, I've been commissioned by Sound Icon, the Washington Square Contemporary Music Society and from Open Space. I regularly advocate for composers of all stripes as a performer (pianist) and as a director of the Etchings Festival for Contemporary Music. I'm also the Artistic Director of Ecce, a contemporary music ensemble. I was born and raised in the Southwest US, and so often my music takes on concerns related to that landscape and culture: ancestral concepts of time, appropriations of indigenous cultures into surrealism and impressionism, and the connections between native traditions and Greek and Roman mythology. Currently, I live in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and teach music composition at Clark University."