V. Deception

Roozbeh Gharib and Arash Mobarrez join creative forces on "Deception," the central movement of a larger multi-part suite (Distracting Spirits) originally premiered in its entirety at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art (TMoCA) during the 2nd Tehran Contemporary Music Festival (TCMF) in 2017. This performance marked a key moment in Roozbeh’s artistic journey, situating his work within both contemporary classical traditions and experimental sound worlds. (More on TCMF: tehrancmf.com)

Roozbeh Gharib is a composer, pianist, and artistic director whose compositions often inhabit the space between acoustic clarity and conceptual transformation. His works investigate time, perception, and how repetition and memory shape musical experience. Through Nix Interactive Studios — a label and publishing initiative he founded — he supports both his own explorations and collaborative projects that challenge conventional boundaries.

Arash Mobarrez, invited by Roozbeh to contribute as co-composer, brings his own refined aesthetic voice to this project. His writing emerges from a place of quiet reflection, subtle emotional architecture, and deeply felt minimalism. Mobarrez's contribution to “V. Deception” is not just performative but compositional: his piano voice is a partner in dialogue, shaping the work’s meditative narrative.

In the 5th section of the performance, "V. Deception," their collaboration resulted in an intimate duet movement: two pianos, one prepared and one unmodified, speaking softly in parallel. Performed without electronics during its premiere, it reflects on tension, nuance, and calm surrender. The sound was matched with visual inspiration — a sunset over the sea’s horizon — during the TMoCA concert, evoking quiet longing, gentle melancholy, and a glow of persistent hope. 

Together, Roozbeh and Arash offer a deeply personal and reflective musical journey — rooted in place, memory, and shared creative listening.

TRACKS:

1. V. Deception

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