Or Matias is an Obie award-winning composer, lyricist, music director, and content developer. Since graduating from Juilliard, Or has led projects and collaborated with some of the most dominant leaders of the entertainment industry, ranging from multi-platinum artists Josh Groban and Trans Siberian Orchestra to Tony Award winning director Rachel Chavkin, broadway composers Dave Malloy and Anaïs Mitchell, and countless other Broadway writers, directors, musicians and actors. Or's musical, The Wave, was the grand winner at the 2021 German Tony Awards (Deutscher Musical Theater Preis) and was awarded "Best Musical", "Best Composition", and "Best Book". Or has managed large creative teams through Broadway productions and has developed creative content from inception through multi-million dollar productions. He has worked on both the creative and operational sides, collaborating with artists and producers alike, from helping navigate budgets to selecting creative content and leading it to production. Or’s original compositions traverse media styles and genres, including pop music albums, musical theater and film, and he has generated substantial content for children, including an original children’s album and an animated 12-part children series in development. 

 

Creative Development & Management: 

Or served as music director and conductor for the Broadway hit Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812, starring Josh Groban. On this show, he managed a team of 60, including 35 actors, 15 musicians, and 10 members of the adjacent music-team on the $15 million production, which was nominated for 12 Tony awards. Responsibilities included creative development with the writer and director in preparing the script and music for the Broadway stage, close collaboration with the producer in managing budgetary allocations and personnel, and directing all musical aspects of the production. Or sat on the hiring committee of the entire acting company and music team, and led rehearsals throughout the process alongside the director. Or also conducted the show nightly centerstage, as featured in American Theatre article, “Even the orchestra is beautiful”. He led performances on Good Morning America, The Today Show, and The Tony Awards. Or produced the featured single from the show, performed by Josh Groban, titled ‘Dust and Ashes’. His work was covered extensively, including NYTimes, Washington Post, Huffington Post, Hollywood Reporter, Theater Mania, Talkin’ Broadway, Talk Entertainment, Playbill, and Broadway World (“Four of Broadway’s hottest musical directors”)

 

Or was Music Supervisor and Music Director for OCTET at the Signature Theatre in NYC, for he won the prestigious Obie Award. He produced the cast album for the show, released by Nonesuch Records and Warner Music Group. He was the Music Supervisor and music director for Moby Dick at the A.R.T (Cambridge) where he led a team of 40, for which he was nominated for an Elliot Norton award. He was a key member in the show’s development since its inception. He was the Music Director and conductor of Michael John LaChiusa’s First Daughter Suite at the Public Theater.

 

Or co-developed the show Preludes for Lincoln Center. In addition to serving as the music director for the production, he also played the role of Sergei Rachmaninoff, for which he was nominated for the Lucille Lortel award for Outstanding Supporting Actor. His performance was described as “marvelous” by the New York Times and “ravishing” by Variety.

 

Artistic Collaborations:

Or has worked extensively with: Josh Groban, The Trans Siberian Orchestra, Hamilton’s Phillipa Soo, Ingrid Michaelson, Rachael Yamagata, actors Emily Kinney and Josh Radnor, Dave Malloy, Rachel Chavkin, violin virtuoso Amadeus Leopold, tap dancer Andrew Nemr, and countless others. As an officially endorsed “Yamaha Artist”, he has penned original music and collaborations with the leading musicians across all genres, ranging from pop, hip-hop, rock, classical, jazz, musical theater, and children’s music. Or’s touring as a classical and jazz pianist has taken him to New Zealand, Australia (Melbourne Festival), Germany, Kosovo, and all over the US, where he performed to sold-out crowds and wide acclaim. 

Compositions:

Or has released a children’s album featuring all original songs. He is currently writing an animated children’s TV series, made of all originally developed storytelling and 12 musical episodes. His dramatic musical, The Wave, for which he wrote the libretto along with the music, received its World Premiere production in the fall of 2020 at the Musiktheater Linz in Austria and won "Best Musical", "Best Composition", and "Best Book" at the 2021 Deutscher Musical Theater Preis. His mini-musical Wall Between Us was performed across the United States to wide acclaim. He is currently writing scores for tap-ballet Rising to the Tap featuring tap dancer Andrew Nemr, and a song-cycle titled The Things That Shape Us. Or was a member of the 2020 New Dramatists Composer-Librettist Studio (8 selected per year), and the 2019 Composer-in-Residence at the prestigious SPACE on Ryder Farm. He regularly scores podcasts for "Israel Story", and has received writing commissions from various organizations including Musical Theater Factory, MusicTalks, and more. 

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Education & Training:
Or holds a BM from The Juilliard School, and an MFA from NYU, where he received a Dean's Fellowship, and full scholarship for his studies. Or worked closely with violin legend Itzhak Perlman at The Perlman Program in Shelter Island. Other festivals include Musica Mundi in Belgium, The Banff Festival in Canada, Gijon International Piano Festival in Spain and the Music Academy of the West in California. While at Juilliard, Or studied piano with Prof. Julian Martin. Previously he studied with Dr. Sharon Mann and Ms. Hadassah Gonen. 

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Pedagogy:
Or is on faculty at the Manhattan School of Music, where he teaches musical theater studies. He has also taught at the youth-program Opening Act in NYC, bringing music to underprivileged communities, as well as at Playing For Change - a worldwide organization which builds music and art schools for children around the world. He has taught piano and songwriting in his private studio for over a decade. 

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