Rocco Panzanelli
My first encounter with Anúna happened on a Sunday morning. I couldn’t wake up, and I found myself tossing and turning in a half-sleep until late in the morning. As often happened, at a certain point someone began playing the piano downstairs. It was my father. As I had already done dozens and dozens of times, I was about to get up and go downstairs to complain, irritated.
This time, however, the music I was hearing had something different about it. Not only was it wonderful—it seemed to come from a place I had been before, perhaps before waking up, or perhaps in a dream I once had. The piece was “The Fisher King” from Deep Dead Blue by Anúna, a very particular choir, as my father described it. A few years later, I found myself buying a plane ticket for a single day of masterclasses
just to meet that incredible group that continued to amaze me day after day. After listening to the concert and practically dancing in church during the piece “Dúlamán,” I told myself it couldn’t end there, and I immediately enrolled in the Summer School 2024 in Pavullo nel Frignano.
There I had the chance to meet Michael McGlynn, Lucy Champion, and many other singers. After taking part in every Anúna masterclass and event I could, I suddenly found myself singing on Anúna’s Christmas tour in the Netherlands.
Music has always been something very precious to me. I grew up in a family of musicians. My father plays the saxophone and is a singing teacher. When I was little, music was ever-present in our home—whether it was singing lessons downstairs or the stereo playing in the living room. I was asked several times whether I wanted to choose an instrument to play. I chose the drums.
I discovered singing at 17, when my band couldn’t find a singer. So I decided to take on the responsibility myself. My voice soon became a natural instrument of expression for me. From that moment on, I understood that music was what I wanted to live for. And day by day, I am more and more grateful for having made that choice.
I hold a master’s degree in jazz drums and perform in my own projects as a drummer or singer, often both. I am part of the Celtic music ensemble Trinaluna, with whom I regularly perform in Italy. For me, Anúna has a profound meaning: what led me to this music is something I have always been pursuing within myself. I used to believe that the sound I was chasing was intangible or illusory, but perhaps now I am beginning to understand that it can become real and tangible.