Roxanna Panufnik
Encyclopedia
Roxanna Panufnik is a British
composer
of Polish
heritage. She is the daughter of the composer and conductor
Sir Andrzej Panufnik
.
Since studying composition at London's Royal Academy of Music
, Panufnik has since written a wide range of pieces including opera, ballet, music theatre, choral works, chamber compositions and music for film and television which are regularly performed all over the world.
Among her most widely performed works are Westminster Mass, commissioned for Westminster Cathedral Choir on the occasion of Cardinal Hume's 75th birthday, The Music Programme, an opera for Polish National Opera's millennium season which received its UK premiere at the BOC Covent Garden Festival, and settings for solo voices and orchestra of Vikram Seth
's Beastly Tales - the first of which was commissioned by the BBC for Patricia Rozario
and City of London Sinfonia
.
Other recent compositions include her critically acclaimed harp concerto Powers & Dominions, Letters from Burma for oboist Douglas Boyd
and the Vellinger String Quartet, Leda, a ballet for English National Ballet
and Wratislavia Cantans
, and Abraham, a violin concerto commissioned by Savannah Music Festival
for Daniel Hope, incorporating Christian, Islamic and Jewish music. Her compositions have been recorded by many companies including Warner Classics and EMI Classics.
2008-09 saw no fewer than 18 premieres in nine different countries, including artists such as the Mobius Ensemble, Tasmin Little
with the Orchestra of the Swan, The Sixteen
, the Dante Quartet, and the choir of King's College Cambridge, plus an interfaith prelude with a Jerusalem premiere given by Valery Gergiev
and the World Orchestra for Peace.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
of Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
heritage. She is the daughter of the composer and conductor
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
Sir Andrzej Panufnik
Andrzej Panufnik
Sir Andrzej Panufnik was a Polish composer, pianist, conductor and pedagogue. He became established as one of the leading Polish composers, and as a conductor he was instrumental in the re-establishment of the Warsaw Philharmonic orchestra after World War II...
.
Since studying composition at London's Royal Academy of Music
Royal Academy of Music
The Royal Academy of Music in London, England, is a conservatoire, Britain's oldest degree-granting music school and a constituent college of the University of London since 1999. The Academy was founded by Lord Burghersh in 1822 with the help and ideas of the French harpist and composer Nicolas...
, Panufnik has since written a wide range of pieces including opera, ballet, music theatre, choral works, chamber compositions and music for film and television which are regularly performed all over the world.
Among her most widely performed works are Westminster Mass, commissioned for Westminster Cathedral Choir on the occasion of Cardinal Hume's 75th birthday, The Music Programme, an opera for Polish National Opera's millennium season which received its UK premiere at the BOC Covent Garden Festival, and settings for solo voices and orchestra of Vikram Seth
Vikram Seth
Vikram Seth is an Indian poet, novelist, travel writer, librettist, children's writer, biographer and memoirist.-Early life:Vikram Seth was born on 20 June 1952 to Leila and Prem Seth in Calcutta...
's Beastly Tales - the first of which was commissioned by the BBC for Patricia Rozario
Patricia Rozario
Patricia Rozario, OBE is a Mumbai-born British soprano.Born and educated in Bombay, India, she went on to study at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London....
and City of London Sinfonia
City of London Sinfonia
The City of London Sinfonia is an English chamber orchestra based in London. In London, the CLS performs regularly at Cadogan Hall and St Paul's Cathedral. It is also the resident orchestra at Opera Holland Park. The CLS has annual residencies in four towns in Southern England: Ipswich, King's...
.
Other recent compositions include her critically acclaimed harp concerto Powers & Dominions, Letters from Burma for oboist Douglas Boyd
Douglas Boyd
Douglas Boyd is a British oboist and conductor. He studied oboe at the Royal Academy of Music, London, as a pupil of Janet Craxton. He later was a student with Maurice Bourgue in Paris...
and the Vellinger String Quartet, Leda, a ballet for English National Ballet
English National Ballet
English National Ballet is a classical ballet company founded by Dame Alicia Markova and Sir Anton Dolin and based at Markova House in South Kensington, London, England. Along with the Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet and Scottish Ballet, it is one of the four major ballet companies in Great...
and Wratislavia Cantans
Wratislavia Cantans
Wratislavia Cantans, also referred to as the International Festival of Oratorio and Cantata Music, is held every September in Wrocław...
, and Abraham, a violin concerto commissioned by Savannah Music Festival
Savannah music festival
The Savannah Music Festival is Georgia's largest musical arts festival. The festival is a cross-genre event that celebrates both the musical heritage of the South and international musicians. The festival is held annually over eighteen consecutive days in the springtime in Savannah, Georgia...
for Daniel Hope, incorporating Christian, Islamic and Jewish music. Her compositions have been recorded by many companies including Warner Classics and EMI Classics.
2008-09 saw no fewer than 18 premieres in nine different countries, including artists such as the Mobius Ensemble, Tasmin Little
Tasmin Little
Tasmin Little is an English violinist.She studied under Pauline Scott at the Yehudi Menuhin School and later at the Guildhall School of Music, coming to prominence as a string section finalist in the 1982 BBC Young Musician of the Year competition...
with the Orchestra of the Swan, The Sixteen
The Sixteen
The Sixteen are a choir and period instrument orchestra; founded by Harry Christophers in 1979.The group's special reputation for performing early English polyphony, masterpieces of the Renaissance, bringing fresh insights into Baroque and early Classical music and a diversity of 20th century...
, the Dante Quartet, and the choir of King's College Cambridge, plus an interfaith prelude with a Jerusalem premiere given by Valery Gergiev
Valery Gergiev
Valery Abisalovich Gergiev is a Russian conductor and opera company director. He is general director and artistic director of the Mariinsky Theatre, principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, and artistic director of the White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg.- Early life :Gergiev,...
and the World Orchestra for Peace.
Selected works
- Westminster Mass (1997), commissioned for Cardinal Basil Hume’s 75th birthday, performed in May 1998 at Westminster CathedralWestminster CathedralWestminster Cathedral in London is the mother church of the Catholic community in England and Wales and the Metropolitan Church and Cathedral of the Archbishop of Westminster...
- Powers & Dominions (2001), a concertinoConcertino (composition)A concertino is a short concerto freer in form. It normally takes the form of a one-movement musical composition for solo instrument and orchestra, though some concertinos are written in several movements played without a pause....
for harpHarpThe harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
and orchestraOrchestraAn orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus... - Inkle and Yarico (1996), a reconstruction of an anti-slaverySlaverySlavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
play of the 18th century - The Music Programme (1999), a chamber opera commissioned by Polish National Opera (based on a novel by Paul MicouPaul MicouPaul Micou is an American novelist. Born in San Francisco, he grew up in Turkey, Iran, Washington D.C. and Connecticut. After graduating from Harvard in 1981 he moved to Paris, then London. He now lives in France with his wife and two sons...
) - Beastly Tales (2001/2), for sopranoSopranoA soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
and orchestra - I Dream’d, one of nine choral pieces forming A Garland for Linda in memory of Linda McCartneyLinda McCartneyLinda Louise McCartney, Lady McCartney was an American photographer, musician and animal rights activist. Her father and mother were Lee Eastman and Louise Sara Lindner Eastman....
- The Upside Down Sailor, a collaboration with Richard StilgoeRichard StilgoeRichard Henry Simpson Stilgoe OBE is a British songwriter, lyricist and musician. He is noted for clever wordplay as much as for his music....
- Spirit Moves, a quintet for the Fine Arts Brass Ensemble
- Private Joe, a work for baritone Nigel Cliffe and the Schidlof String Quartet
- Odi et Amo, a ballet for London Musici and the Rambert Dance CompanyRambert Dance CompanyRambert Dance Company, is a leading British dance company. Formed at the start of the 20th century as a classical ballet company, it would exert a great deal of influence on the development of dance in the United Kingdom, and today, as a contemporary dance company, it continues to be one of the...
- Olivia, a string quartet for the Maggini Quartet, with optional children's choir
- Love Abide (2006), a piece for choirChoirA choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
, mezzo-sopranoMezzo-sopranoA mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above...
, organOrgan (music)The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
, harp and strings commissioned by the Choral Arts Society of PhiladelphiaChoral Arts Society of PhiladelphiaThe Choral Arts Society of Philadelphia is a 60-voice choir founded in 1982 in Philadelphia. The chorus consists of volunteer singers with a 12-voice professional core. The Choral Arts Society is currently directed by Matthew Glandorf, who also serves on the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music...
for its 25th anniversary - Wild Ways (2008), a piece for choirChoirA choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
, and shakuhachiShakuhachiThe is a Japanese end-blown flute. It is traditionally made of bamboo, but versions now exist in ABS and hardwoods. It was used by the monks of the Fuke school of Zen Buddhism in the practice of...
commissioned by the Nonsuch Singers and Kiku Day - So Strong Is His Love (2008) a piece for choirChoirA choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
and quartetQuartetIn music, a quartet is a method of instrumentation , used to perform a musical composition, and consisting of four parts.-Western art music:...
commissioned by the Waltham Singers for the 25th Anniversary of their conductor: Andrew Fardell. - The Call (2010), an AdventAdventAdvent is a season observed in many Western Christian churches, a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas. It is the beginning of the Western liturgical year and commences on Advent Sunday, called Levavi...
carol commissioned by St John's College, CambridgeSt John's College, CambridgeSt John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's alumni include nine Nobel Prize winners, six Prime Ministers, three archbishops, at least two princes, and three Saints....