[1] 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.
Although John Hopkins immediately inducted After Marllarmé into the 1967 International Rostrum of Composers in Paris, France, Meale was critical of the piece.
[4] Although it is widely believed that Ahern completely stopped composing after his ineffectual performance of HiLo (1975), there are two pieces called Question of time and Rainbow mediation which are now known to come from as late as 1985.
"[3] During the length of Ahern's career, Australia sought to preserve the genre and style of classical European music.
There are no known scores for Arabesque for 48 Strings, Chameleon, The call of the birds unwoke me, Question of time (1985), nor Rainbow meditations (1985).
[4] After six years as principal sound lecturer at Sydney College of the Arts, followed by other, largely unsuccessful career changes caused by his acute alcoholism, Ahern died unexpectedly from an asthma attack at the age of 40 on 31 January 1988.
[4] Little was spoken of him other than obscure documentation of his work that is limited to journals from performers in his music groups, interviews from former colleagues and mentors, and a few mentions in a handful of books and newspaper articles.