Biography

Composer born in Iran and based in the Netherlands, Rouzbeh Rafie's musical exploration concentrates on producing a sound that is both archaic and modern, with the aim of creating forms which seek to capture the complex nature of memory - something he refers to as “paths of memory”. This inquiry leads him towards an emphasis upon ideas such as archetypes, remembrance, and perception of time; all inspired by varying sources including structuralism, chaos theory, folk music and literature.

Education:

He obtained formal musical instruction at the Tehran University of Art with Sharif Lotfi and Kiawasch SahebNassagh. In 2011, he relocated to Rome for further studies under Rosario Mirigliano at Rome Conservatory of Santa Cecilia, before going on in 2015 to study at the National Academy of Santa Cecilia beneath Ivan Fedele from where he eventually graduated in 2018 having attained top marks. He has also taken part in masterclasses ran by Salvatore Sciarrino (2014-2015 Respighi Conservatory), Tolibkhon Shakhidi, Khayyam Mirzazadeh, Tuivo Tulev (2014) and Giacomo Manzoni (2017).

Music:

His music has been heard around the world through concerts and festivals: Parco Della Musica (Rome), Accademia Chigiana summer festival, Nuova Consonanza Festival (Rome), Musica Nova festival (Helsinki), Rome Philharmonic (Sala Casella), Solti hall (Budapest), Roudaki Hall (Tehran) Festival Contrasti (Trento) Dumke recital hall (Salt Lake City, Utah), Mar del Plata Philharmonic (Argentina), New Music Miami Festival, Sala Academica (Rome), Austrian cultural forum (Rome), Collège franco-britannique (Paris) Prague microfest, Finland Kokonainen-Musequal Festival and Naples Dissonanzen Festival.

In 2021 after being chosen as a winner of Kokonainen-Musequal composition competition he has been nominated as "Composer in Residence" at Musequal (Finland) from 2022 to 2024.

Performers:

Ensembles:

Ensemble Contemporanea di Parco Della Musica (ECPM) conducted by Tonino Battista. Ensemble 900 conducted by Carlo Rizzari.

Trio 3:0. Ensemble Imago Sonora. Ensemble Nivak. MP Saxophone Quartet. Ensemble Moto Contrario. Sonar trio. Ensemble Aural. Kokonainen-Musequal String Ensemble, NEMA Ensemble.

Clarinet: Paolo Ravaglia, Livia Tancioni, Daniele Dian.

Flute: Bianca Fiorito, Ginevra Petrucci, Sara Minelli, Rebecca Taio, Kelariz Keshavarz.

Saxophone: Emanuele Dalmaso

Violin: Patricia Ibáñez, Silvia Mandolini, Rebecca Raimondi, Giorgiana Strazullo, Michela Marchiana.

Cello: Kati Raitinen

Guitar: Jacopo Lazzaretti, Petri Kumela, Andrii Brahin

Piano: Tiina Karakorpi

Conductors: Daniele Moroni, Tonino Battista, Carlo Rizzari, Cosimo Abbate.

theatrical productions as a composer: Corinna Lenneis and Éva Patkó.

Awards and recognitions:

- Winner of "Adriana Giannuzzi" study prize - Rome Conservatoire 2013

- Second prize of “G.Petrassi” composition competition (3rd. edition) for solo guitar, Rome 2014

-Selected piece of the eighth New Music Miami Festival (NMMF) call for scores for "Five Haiku duets" - Miami beach 2019

-Selected piece of Concept Ensemble international call for scores, Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University, Australia, 2020

-Selected piece of MicroFest Prague 2020 call for scores.

- Winner of «Ennio Porrino» International Composition Competition- Monte Argentario, Italy, 2020

- First prize of Musequal composition competition, Finland, Helsinki February 2021

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