[2] Boren began his academic career as department head at the College of Education in Uyo, Nigeria, from 1970 to 1980.
[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.
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.
[10] They also collaborated on The Singer's Romance, a three-act opera inspired by a Willa Cather short story.