Ensemble Bio

Praised by The New York Times as "an ensemble that plays by its own rules" and "a trustworthy purveyor of new sounds,” Either/Or has been at the forefront of New York's contemporary music scene since 2004. Winner of the 2015 CMA/ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming, Either/Or focuses on new, recently composed, and rare works for various and often times unconventional instrumentations. Programmed by Co-Directors Richard Carrick and Christopher McIntyre, the group’s projects are brought to life by a roster of New York City’s world-class musicians and special guests.

Either/Or has performed throughout the Northeast at venues including Philadelphia Museum of Art, ICA Boston, Miller Theatre, The Kitchen, as well as California and Swedish tours and frequent appearances at local experimental music venues such as The Stone, Roulette, ISSUE Project Room, and Museum of Modern Art.

Either/Or’s programming is aesthetically inclusive, ranging from the American Experimental tradition (Cage, Feldman, Lucier, Ashley) to the historical and contemporary European avant-garde, with a special emphasis on composers working outside the institutional mainstream. The group has premiered more than 300 works since its inception, not including dozens of student compositions. They have worked closely with many leaders in contemporary composition including George Lewis, Zeena Parkins, Beat Furrer, John Zorn, Miya Masaoka, Elliott Sharp, Helmut Lachenmann, Anthony Coleman, and Thomas Meadowcroft. Either/Or has received great acclaim for its numerous career-spanning portrait concerts, all of which were firsts in the US. Portrait composers include Tālib-Rāsúl Hākím, Chiyoko SzalvIancu Dumitrescu, Ana Maria Avram, Chaya Czernowin, Anna Thorvaldsdottir, Horatiu Radulescu, Karin Rehnqvist, Rebecca Saunders, Hans Thomalla, and Raphaël Cendo. The group brought many of these composers to New York City for public lectures and teaching engagements.

Either/Or has released ten full-length recordings of works commissioned or premiered by them on New World Records, Edition Moderne, Starkland, and Sterling labels. www.eitherormusic.org

Co-Directors

Richard Carrick & Christopher McIntyre

Composer, conductor and pianist Richard Carrick is a composer who writes music of spatial depth and robust stasis, characterized by the evocation of profound human experiences. Described as "organic and restless" by The New York Times, Carrick's music has been presented internationally at festivals including NYPHIL Biennial, ISCM World Music Days, Enescu Festival, released on numerous critically acclaimed CDs, and published by PSNY. A recipient of numerous awards including a s Guggenheim Fellowship and Fromm Foundation Commission, his music spans solo, chamber and orchestral compositions as well as works incorporating dance, graphic scores, electronics, video projection, and conducted group improvisation. Carrick has presented concerts, master classes and lectures throughout the US, Europe, Israel, Rwanda, Japan, and South Korea, where he was a Korean Gugak Fellow in 2015. He currently serves as Chair of Composition at Berklee College and director of the Experimental New Music Ensemble Either/Or in NYC, with former faculty appointments at Columbia and New York Universities and as New York Philharmonic Teaching Artist for the Very Young Composers Program. Born in Paris of French-Algerian and British descent, Carrick received his BA from Columbia University, PhD from the University of California-San Diego, and pursued further studies at IRCAM and the Koninklijk Conservatorium. richardcarrick.com

Christopher McIntyre is a Brooklyn-based trombonist, curator, composer, music director, and educator. Known for his expansive engagement with the music of Julius Eastman, Chris serves as Director of TILT Brass (co-founder in 2003) and Co-Director and trombonist of Either/Or Ensemble. He specializes in ensemble work meshing improvisative & interpretive material as a player and as composer and director. McIntyre’s compositions have been performed at venues including MoMA, City Center, Gagosian, Miller Theatre, and The Kitchen. He regularly performs with TILT, Either/Or, and American Composers Orchestra, among many others. McIntyre leads a distinguished career as an independent concert programmer in New York (The Kitchen, MATA Festival, Ne(x)tworks, ISSUE Project Room) and music director (projects at MoMA and Guggenheim, leading Eastman’s Femenine with SEM & Talea Ensembles and Orchestra of St. Luke’s.) He teaches at Mannes School of Music at The New School and in the ACO’s Teaching Artist program, and is a member of ISSUE’s Board of Directors. cmcintyre.com