MURRAY BOREN

A prolific composer whose works include seven operas, three ballets, dozens of songs and choral works, and over 80 chamber compositions, Boren also writes for the theatre, providing music for recent productions of Macbeth, Antigone, To Kill a Mockingbird, and the premier of The Seating of Senator Smoot. Recent commissions include Jesus, Lay Your Sleeping Head, a Christmas cantata for the Bach Choir of Pittsburgh, Concerto for Piano and Winds, a Barlow commission for the University of Delaware, Liturgical Dances for the Aurora Duo, and a music adaptation of The Christmas Box (with Eric Samuelsen), which opened in November 1997.

Twice a member of the BYU composition faculty (1979-84 and 1994-2007), Boren’s current projects include an opera on Picasso with poet Glen Nelson; another Nelson libretto, The Singer’s Romance, suggested by a Willa Cather short story; a large “theatre piece” about the history of farce with playwright Eric Samuelsen; and a set of unaccompanied sonatas, one for each orchestral instrument. When not teaching and composing, Boren’s chief form of recreation is “goofing off with the kids.”

DISCOGRAPHY