External links
- The Book of Gold, MSS 7590: opera about the Book of Mormon with music by Boren, at L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Brigham Young University
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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 (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 (BYU).
Murray Boren received his BM and MA in composition from Brigham Young University (BYU) in 1975 and 1977 respectively. [1] [2] He received a DMA in composition from the City University of New York in 2002. [2] Boren began his academic career as department head at the College of Education in Uyo, Nigeria, from 1970 to 1980. [2] He became a professor of composition and theory at BYU in 1980, a position he held for four years. [2] After this, he worked in administrative positions at the City University of New York and New York University from 1984 to 1994. [2] He returned to teach composition and theory at BYU in 1994 where he served as composer in residence until he retired in 2007. [3] [4] [2]
Boren has written nine operas, adapting them from religious texts and LDS Church history, as well as medieval mystery plays. [5] Orson Scott Card was the librettist for Boren's opera Abraham and Isaac based on Genesis 22 in the Bible. [5] [6] Boren wrote the opera Emma about Emma Smith, wife of the founder of the LDS Church, Joseph Smith. Emma received mixed reviews. [7] It was praised for its freshness, but criticized for being overly chromatic. Allan Kozinn of The New York Times 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." [8] Boren has collaborated with librettist Glen Nelson on three operas. [9] The Dead was a one-act opera adaptation of James Joyce 's Dubliners , first staged in New York in 1993. [10] They also collaborated on The Singer's Romance, a three-act opera inspired by a Willa Cather short story. [11] In 2005, Boren and Nelson collaborated to create The Book of Gold, an opera about Joseph Smith. [12] [13] 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. [14] Several of Boren's pieces were first performed by orchestras directed by Kory Katseanes. [15] [3]
Boren is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Satins and is married to Susan Alexander Boren, a soprano with whom he has performed. [16] [17] [18] They have three children. [19]
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Mormon cinema usually refers to films with themes relevant to members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The term has also been used to refer to films that do not necessarily reflect Mormon themes but have been made by Mormon filmmakers. Films within the realm of Mormon cinema may be distinguished from institutional films produced by the LDS Church, such as Legacy and Testaments, which are made for instructional or proselyting purposes and are non-commercial. Mormon cinema is produced mainly for the purposes of entertainment and potential financial success.
Thomas Glen Alexander is an American historian and academic who is a professor emeritus at Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah, where he was also Lemuel Hardison Redd, Jr. Professor of Western History and director of the Charles Redd Center for Western Studies. After studying at Weber State University (WSU) and Utah State University (USU), he received a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley in 1965. He taught history at BYU from 1964 until 2004, and served in the leadership of various local and historical organizations.
Royal Jon Skousen is an American linguist and retired professor of linguistics and English at Brigham Young University (BYU), where he is editor of the Book of Mormon Critical Text Project. He is "the leading expert on the textual history of the Book of Mormon" and the founder of the analogical modeling approach to language modeling.
The history of the Latter Day Saint movement includes numerous instances of violence. Mormons faced significant persecution in the early 19th century, including instances of forced displacement and mob violence in Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois. Notably, the founder of Mormonism, Joseph Smith, was shot and killed alongside his brother, Hyrum Smith, in Carthage, Illinois in 1844, while Smith was in jail awaiting trial on charges of treason and inciting a riot.
Matthew B. Brown was a Latter-day Saint (Mormon) author and historian whose emphasis was on the history and doctrine of Joseph Smith and his successors through Brigham Young.
Levi Edgar Young was a general authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was one of the seven presidents of the Seventy from 1909 until his death. He has been associated with the release of the 1832 account of Joseph Smith's First Vision, which was previously not widely known. Aside from his service in the Seventy, Young served as president of various LDS Church missions. Young received a master's degree from Columbia University in history and was a professor of history at the University of Utah.
Dean Cornell Jessee is a historian of the early Latter Day Saint movement and leading expert on the writings of Joseph Smith Jr.
Brigham Young University Press was the university press of Brigham Young University (BYU).
Paul Y. Hoskisson is an American professor of Ancient scripture and former associate dean of Religious Education at Brigham Young University (BYU). In 2008, he was appointed director of the Laura F. Willes Center for Book of Mormon Research.
Kory Katseanes is a Professor of Music and the Director of Orchestras at the BYU School of Music and was the director of the School of Music from 2009-2015. Brigham Young University (BYU) The orchestra program at BYU is one of the largest collegiate orchestra programs in the United States. He has also been a guest conductor for multiple orchestras.
Richard Eyring "Rick" Turley Jr. is an American historian and genealogist. He previously served as both an Assistant Church Historian of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and as managing director of the church's public affairs department.
Paul Robert Cheesman was an American academic and a professor of religion at Brigham Young University (BYU).
Steven Craig Harper is a professor of church history and doctrine at Brigham Young University. He was a historian for the Church History Department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. From 2019, he is the Editor-in-Chief of BYU Studies Quarterly.
Gilbert Woodrow Scharffs was a Latter-day Saint religious educator and author.
Brigham Cecil Gates was an American music conductor and composer.
Mormon studies is the interdisciplinary academic study of the beliefs, practices, history and culture of individuals and denominations belonging to the Latter Day Saint movement, a religious movement associated with the Book of Mormon, though not all churches and members of the Latter Day Saint movement identify with the terms Mormon or Mormonism. Denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement include the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, by far the largest, as well as the Community of Christ (CoC) and other smaller groups, include some categorized under the umbrella term Mormon fundamentalism.
Glen Nelson is an American poet, librettist, publisher, writer, and a ghostwriter of several New York Times nonfiction bestsellers. He wrote the libretto for The Book of Gold, an opera about Joseph Smith publishing the Book of Mormon. He is the founder of New York City's Mormon Artists Group and co-founder of the Center for Latter-day Saint Arts. He has written several nonfiction books that focus on Mormon artists.
Reid Larkin Neilson is the assistant academic vice president (AAVP) for religious scholarly publications at Brigham Young University (BYU). He was the Assistant Church Historian and Recorder for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 2015 to 2019, and the managing director of the church's history department from 2010 to 2019.
This is a bibliography of literature treating the topic of criticism of Mormonism, sorted by alphabetical order of titles.
Rowan S. Taylor (1927–2005) was an American composer and conductor. Taylor composed over 250 symphonies in addition to his concertos, songs, chamber works, operas, choral works, and ballets. His works have been performed all over the world. Taylor received both his bachelor's and master's degrees from Brigham Young University. He studied at UCLA for three years before teaching at Pierce College where he taught for 39 years. He has been honored for his teaching and his works. In his personal life, Taylor was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He married Priscilla Pulliam in 1957 and had nine children.
