Roxanna Panufnik
Born: April 24, 1968, London, United Kingdom
BIOGRAPHY MUSIC RECORDINGS SOURCES
British composer, Roxanna Panufnik, is the daughter of Polish composer, Sir Andrzej Panufnik. She attended the Royal Academy of Music before concentrating on her work as a researcher for the BBC Music and Arts.
As a composer, Panufnik is best known for her choral works, many of which contain “faith” elements. She is also determined to convey the intimate connections between different faiths in her works, which she discusses by saying,
“I’m on a mission to shout from the rooftops the beauty of all these different faiths’ music. It’s about bringing us together. Too often we don’t think about what we have in common, but instead about our tiny fraction of difference from each other.”
Panufnik composes in a variety of languages including Latin and Estonian. Her most well known compositions include the following:
Westminster Mass, commissioned for Westminster Cathedral Choir for Cardinal Hume's 75th birthday
The Music Programme, an opera for Polish National Opera's millennium season
Songs for voice and orchestra depicting Vikram Seth’s Beastly Tales, commissioned by the BBC
Four World Seasons, which premiered with the London Mozart Players as part of a celebration for the 2012 Olympic Games
Panufnik’s works are performed regularly around the world; a list of past and upcoming performances can be found here: https://roxannapanufnik.com/upcoming-concerts/. Her music is published by Peter’s Edition Ltd and recordings can be found on many of the major labels including Warner Classics and EMI Classics.