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Tier 3 · vertical & regionalfull biography
Roxanna Panufnik
Person · female · United Kingdom · London · born 1968 · recording since 2000
British composer
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Also known as 羅克珊娜·帕努夫尼克
Timeline
7 events▣ Album 5◦ Birth 1★ Debut release 1
1960s
2000s
· Debut release
Debut release: Westminster Mass
First documented Album in the MusicBrainz discography.
source: musicbrainz
2010s
Biography
English biography671 words · 1 sectionssource: wikipedia-en · licence CC BY-SA 4.0 · revision 1370151687
Biography
Roxanna Anna Macklow Smith (née Panufnik; born 24 April 1968) is a British composer of Polish descent. She is the daughter of the Polish composer and conductor Sir Andrzej Panufnik and his second wife Camilla, née Jessel.
Panufnik was born in London. She attended Bedales School and then studied at the Royal Academy of Music with Melanie Ruth Daiken. She has 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 in May 1998, 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. All three Tales are available on disc.
Panufnik has a particular interest in world music; a recent culmination of this was Abraham, a violin concerto commissioned by Savannah Music Festival for Daniel Hope, incorporating Christian, Islamic and Jewish music. This was then converted into an overture, commissioned by the World Orchestra for Peace and premiered in Jerusalem under the baton of Valery Gergiev.
Recently premiered was her oratorio Dance of Life (in Latin and Estonian), incorporating her fourth mass setting, for multiple Tallinn choirs and the Tallinn Philharmonic Orchestra (commissioned to mark their tenure of European Capital of Culture 2011). Her Four World Seasons for violinist Tasmin Little was premiered with the London Mozart Players and broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 on 2 March 2012, as part of BBC Radio 3's Music Nation, celebrating the 2012 Olympics.
The Bristol-based Exultate Singers, under their founder-conductor David Ogden, gave the premiere of Panufnik's Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis for the London Festival of Contemporary Church Music in 2012. Of the Magnificat, Panufnik said:
"I consulted my good friend, the Rev. Canon Michael Hampel, and he suggested the idea of interpolating the Ave Maria with the Magnificat – as those words of the Archangel Gabriel telling Mary that she was carrying God's son must have been utmost in her mind for the Magnificat, which is her response to that awesome news – the words she says when she visits her cousin Elizabeth. Piecing the two texts together, they have very close associations – it seemed a very natural thing to do. The piece is dedicated to the two commissioning choirs, Exultate Singers and St Mark's Episcopal Church Choir in Philadelphia, with thanks for our very happy continuing collaborations."
Garsington Opera commissioned Panufnik's people's opera Silver Birch and gave the world premiere on 28 July 2017. With a libretto by writer Jessica Duchen this celebration of music, drama, poetry and dance brought together 180 performers on the stage and in the pit, from local schools and the community, working alongside professional soloists, Pinewood Group and the Garsington Opera Orchestra. Karen Gillingham, Creative Director of Garsington Opera's Learning & Participation Programme directed and Douglas Boyd, Garsington Opera's Artistic Director, conducted. Inspired by the timeless themes of war and relationships affected by it, the opera draws upon Siegfried Sassoon's poems and the testimony of a British soldier, who served recently in Iraq, to illustrate the human tragedies of conflicts past and present.
Panufnik was the inaugural Associate Composer with the London Mozart Players, 2012–2015. She is also a Vice-President of the Joyful Company of Singers.
In 2023, Panufnik was one of twelve composers asked to write a new piece for the coronation of Charles III and Camilla. Her setting of the Sanctus, Coronation Sanctus, was performed during the Eucharist.
In 2024, Panufnik received the Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Works Collection at The Ivors Classical Awards. She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2026 Birthday Honours for services to music and to charity.
Discography & profile
Normalised profile
Percentiles are computed over every artist in the database, so a tier-3 artist can still sit in the 95th percentile on a single axis.
| Metric | Value | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia language versions | 12 | 64.8th |
| Spotify monthly listeners | — | no data |
| Release groups in DB | 5 | 78.9th |
| Studio albums | 5 | 84.6th |
| Awards recorded | 1 | 89th |
| Timeline events | 7 | 82.6th |
| Recording span (years) | 19 | 43.6th |
| Genres | 1 | 56th |
Percentiles are computed at render time; missing values mean the artist has no data on that axis.
Discography (5 release groups · 5 studio albums)
Albums · 5
2000 · studio album
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Tracklist · 18 tracks · 1:13:57
1Ave Verum Corpus3:242The Doctrine of Wisdom5:123Westminster Mass: Kyrie3:474Westminster Mass: Gloria5:445Westminster Mass: Deus, Deus Meus6:246Westminster Mass: Sanctus and Benedictus2:567Westminster Mass: Memorial Acclamation1:218Westminster Mass: Amen0:319Westminster Mass: Agnus Dei4:5310Funeral Ikos8:5711Missa in honorem Sancti Dominici: Kyrie2:0212Missa in honorem Sancti Dominici: Gloria3:4113Missa in honorem Sancti Dominici: Credo6:2314Missa in honorem Sancti Dominici: Sanctus1:1315Missa in honorem Sancti Dominici: Benedictus1:3316Missa in honorem Sancti Dominici: Agnus Dei2:1917The Beatitudes8:4618Salve Regina4:512014 · studio album
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Tracklist · 20 tracks · 1:11:27
1Twelve Miniature Studies: I.1:042Twelve Miniature Studies: II. Sempre pianissimo e molto legato2:503Twelve Miniature Studies: III. Sempre fortissimo e molto marcato0:564Twelve Miniature Studies: IV. Sempre pianissimo e molto tranquillo2:105Twelve Miniature Studies: V. Sempre fortissimo e molto agitato1:076Twelve Miniature Studies: VI. Sempre pianissimo e molto cantabile2:417Twelve Miniature Studies: VII. Sempre fortissimo, senza pedale e molto secco1:158Twelve Miniature Studies: VIII. Sempre pianissimo, con pedale e molto espressivo2:329Twelve Miniature Studies: IX. Sempre fortissimo e molto appassionato0:3510Twelve Miniature Studies: X. Sempre pianissimo e molto dolce2:5811Twelve Miniature Studies: XI. Sempre fortissimo e molto veloce0:5412Twelve Miniature Studies: XII. Pianissimo e crescendo poco a poco il fortissimo1:1513Hommage à Chopin: No. 1. Andante2:4414Hommage à Chopin: No. 4. Vivo2:4715Hommage à Chopin: No. 5. Andante4:1016Pentasonata13:0617Modlitwa5:3918Second Home9:3619Glo1:4220Reflections11:26Messages: Chamber Works for Strings
2014 · studio album
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Tracklist · 19 tracks · 1:17:30
1Modlitwa6:362String Quartet no. 1: Prelude. Senza misura3:043String Quartet no. 1: Transformations12:044String Quartet no. 1: Postlude2:335Memories of My Father: 1. "O Tu, Andrzej"5:576String Quartet no. 2 "Messages": Adagio misterioso - Andante cantabile -2:127String Quartet no. 2 "Messages": Allegretto rubato - Allegro non troppo -2:308String Quartet no. 2 "Messages": Andante tranquillo - Più andante, molto tranquillo - Allegro non troppo -3:119String Quartet no. 2 "Messages": Vivo scherzando - Vivace con brio - Poco meno mosso -3:3810String Quartet no. 2 "Messages": Vivace con brio - Vivacissimo, quasi senza misura - Improvvisando - Allegro non troppo -3:2811String Quartet no. 2 "Messages": Allegretto rubato -0:5212String Quartet no. 2 "Messages": Andante cantabile - Adagio misterioso3:3113Memories of My Father: 2. "Greek Photostory"5:4714String Quartet no. 3 "Wycinanki": Lento moderato -2:4915String Quartet no. 3 "Wycinanki": Andantino rubato -2:0816String Quartet no. 3 "Wycinanki": Allegretto scherzando -1:2617String Quartet no. 3 "Wycinanki": Prestissimo possibile -1:3418String Quartet no. 3 "Wycinanki": Adagio sostenuto3:0019Song to the Virgin Mary11:102016 · studio album
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Tracklist · 16 tracks · 1:01:55
1Concerto in E major, op. 8 no. 1, RV 269 “La Primavera”: Allegro3:282Concerto in E major, op. 8 no. 1, RV 269 “La Primavera”: Largo2:513Concerto in E major, op. 8 no. 1, RV 269 “La Primavera”: Allegro3:584Concerto in G minor, op. 8 no. 2, RV 315 “L’estate”: Allegro non molto – Allegro – [Allegro non molto] –5:205Concerto in G minor, op. 8 no. 2, RV 315 “L’estate”: Adagio – Presto – Adagio – Presto – Adagio – Presto – Adagio – Presto – Adagio2:096Concerto in G minor, op. 8 no. 2, RV 315 “L’estate”: Presto2:377Concerto in F major, op. 8 no. 3, RV 293 “L’autunno”: Allegro – Larghetto – Allegro assai –5:378Concerto in F major, op. 8 no. 3, RV 293 “L’autunno”: Adagio molto2:449Concerto in F major, op. 8 no. 3, RV 293 “L’autunno”: Allegro3:1710Concerto in F minor, op. 8 no. 4 , RV 297 “L’inverno”: Allegro non molto3:3311Concerto in F minor, op. 8 no. 4 , RV 297 “L’inverno”: Largo2:1012Concerto in F minor, op. 8 no. 4 , RV 297 “L’inverno”: Allegro – Lento – [Allegro]3:0013Four World Seasons: 1. Autumn in Albania. In memory of my father Andrzej Panufnik who lived, loved and died in Autumn. Bright & cheeky – Faster – Tempo I. Very freely… – Soulfully6:4014Four World Seasons: 2. Tibetan Winter. For Tasmin. [ ]5:0615Four World Seasons: 3. Spring in Japan. For my dear friend Tasmin Little and the Orchestra of the Swan. Tentative, at first… – Faster4:0016Four World Seasons: 4. Indian Summer. To Tasmin Little and the Orchestra of the Swan. Very freely – [Twice as fast] – Suddenly more gentle – [ ] – Suddenly more gentle – [A little slower]5:252019 · studio album
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Tracklist · 14 tracks · 1:04:24
1Love Endureth4:212Love Abide: I. Love is the Master5:223Love Abide: II. Love Abide10:414Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis: I. Magnificat5:525Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis: II. Nunc Dimittis3:046Zen Love Song6:017Schola Missa de Angelis: I. Kyrie2:368Schola Missa de Angelis: II. Gloria4:239Schola Missa de Angelis: III. Sanctus & Benedictus4:2010Schola Missa de Angelis: IV. Agnus Dei5:2411Mass of the Angels: I. Kyrie2:0812Mass of the Angels: II. Gloria3:1413Mass of the Angels: III. Sanctus & Benedictus3:3514Mass of the Angels: IV. Agnus Dei3:23
Stats & PK
Percentile within all 23,672 published artists.Put Roxanna Panufnik head-to-head →
| Metric | Value | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia language versions | 12 | 64.8th |
| Spotify monthly listeners | — | no data |
| Release groups in DB | 5 | 78.9th |
| Studio albums | 5 | 84.6th |
| Awards recorded | 1 | 89th |
| Timeline events | 7 | 82.6th |
| Recording span (years) | 19 | 43.6th |
| Genres | 1 | 56th |
Awards & honours
| Year | Award | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| — | Officer of the Order of the British Empire | won |
Where this record comes from
aliases/urls—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/4c898ad2-3743-46c4-b3ce-00e4ec1af05cdiscography—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/4c898ad2-3743-46c4-b3ce-00e4ec1af05ccore—wikidata · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4971829seed-list—wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roxanna_Panufnikbiography—wikipedia-en · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roxanna_Panufnik
Why this artist is in the database
- List of composers by name
Tier rule: curated genre/region list
Image: no portrait (not displayed: the licence credit is missing)
Wikidata: Q4971829 · MusicBrainz: 4c898ad2-3743-46c4-b3ce-00e4ec1af05c
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