Murray Boren (born 1950) is a composer of opera, symphonic, chamber, and vocal works. He has written nine operas and over 100 songs and chamber compositions. He also contributed to the ''Joseph Sonnets''. Among his operas are ''Book of Gold'' and ''Emma''; both are based on

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

(LDS Church) history. In 2007, he retired from his position as composer-in-residence at the College of Music of the College of Fine Arts and Communications of

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

(BYU).

Education and career

Murray Boren received his BM and MA in composition from

(BYU) in 1975 and 1977 respectively. He received a

DMA DMA may refer to: Arts * ''DMA'' (magazine), a defunct dance music magazine * Dallas Museum of Art, in Texas, US * BT Digital Music Awards, an annual event in the UK * Danish Music Awards * Detroit Music Awards * Doctor of musical arts, a degree ...

in composition from the

City University of New York The City University of New York (CUNY, pronounced , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven ...

in 2002. Boren began his academic career as department head at the

College of Education In the United States and Canada, a school of education (or college of education; ed school) is a division within a university that is devoted to scholarship in the field of education, which is an interdisciplinary branch of the social sciences e ...

in Uyo, Nigeria, from 1970 to 1980. He became a professor of composition and theory at BYU in 1980, a position he held for four years. After this, he worked in administrative positions at the City University of New York and

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

from 1984 to 1994. He returned to teach composition and theory at BYU in 1994 where he served as composer in residence until he retired in 2007. Boren has written nine operas, adapting them from religious texts and LDS Church history, as well as medieval mystery plays.

Orson Scott Card Orson Scott Card (born August 24, 1951) is an American writer known best for his science fiction works. , he is the only person to have won a Hugo Award for Best Novel, Hugo Award and a Nebula Award for Best Novel, Nebula Award in List of joint ...

was the

librettist A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major ...

for Boren's opera ''Abraham and Isaac'' based on

Genesis 22 The Binding of Isaac (), or simply "The Binding" (), is a story from chapter 22 of the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. In the biblical narrative, God orders Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac on the mountain called Jehovah-jireh in the r ...

in the Bible. Boren wrote the opera ''Emma'' about

Emma Smith Emma Hale Smith Bidamon (July 10, 1804 – April 30, 1879) was a leader in the early Latter Day Saint movement and a prominent member of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS Church) as well as the first wife of Josep ...

, wife of the founder of the LDS Church,

Joseph Smith Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious and political leader and the founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. Publishing the Book of Mormon at the age of 24, Smith attracted tens of thou ...

. ''Emma'' received mixed reviews. It was praised for its freshness, but criticized for being overly

chromatic Diatonic and chromatic are terms in music theory that are used to characterize scales. The terms are also applied to musical instruments, intervals, chords, notes, musical styles, and kinds of harmony. They are very often used as a pair, es ...

Allan Kozinn Allan Kozinn (born July 28, 1954) is an American journalist, music critic, and teacher. Kozinn received bachelor's degrees in music and journalism from Syracuse University in 1976. He began freelancing as a critic and music feature writer for ''T ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' praised the vocal performances and the unique orchestral music; however, he criticized the opera's slow pace stating that, "the sustained slow-motion caterwauling of the first five minutes was ample warning that this would be a very, very long evening." Boren has collaborated with librettist Glen Nelson on three operas. ''The Dead'' was a one-act opera adaptation of

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (born James Augusta Joyce; 2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influentia ...

s ''

Dubliners ''Dubliners'' is a collection of fifteen short stories by James Joyce, first published in 1914. It presents a naturalistic depiction of Irish middle class life in and around Dublin in the early years of the 20th century. The stories were writ ...

'', first staged in New York in 1993. They also collaborated on ''The Singer's Romance'', a three-act opera inspired by a

Willa Cather Willa Sibert Cather (; born Wilella Sibert Cather; December 7, 1873 – April 24, 1947) was an American writer known for her novels of life on the Great Plains, including ''O Pioneers!'', ''The Song of the Lark (novel), The Song of the Lark'', a ...

short story. In 2005, Boren and Nelson collaborated to create ''The Book of Gold'', an opera about Joseph Smith. In addition to opera, Boren has written over 100 songs and chamber compositions. He wrote the music for the ''Joseph Sonnets'', which were created in co-operation with Sally Taylor. Several of Boren's pieces were first performed by orchestras directed by Kory Katseanes. Boren is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Satins and is married to Susan Alexander Boren, a

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

with whom he has performed. They have three children.

Operas

*''The Only Jealousy of Emer'' (1973) *''Abraham & Isaac'' (1977) *''A Christmas Play'' (1982) *''Emma'' (1983) *''Mormon/Moroni'' (1987) *''The Dead'' (1993) *''The Singer's Romance'' (1998) *''Eliza'' (2004) *''The Book of Gold'' (2005)

Sources

External links

The Book of Gold, MSS 7590
opera about the Book of Mormon with music by Boren, a
L. Tom Perry Special Collections

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boren, Murray 1950 births Living people Brigham Young University alumni Latter Day Saints from New York (state) American opera composers American male opera composers CUNY Graduate Center alumni Brigham Young University faculty City University of New York staff New York University staff 20th-century American classical composers 21st-century American classical composers American expatriates in Nigeria 20th-century American male musicians Latter Day Saints from Utah