Background
Lundstrem was born to a family of musicians in Chita, Transbaikal Oblast.
composer conductor jazz musician
Lundstrem was born to a family of musicians in Chita, Transbaikal Oblast.
Kazan Conservatory.
His family moved to Harbin, China when he was five. In 1935, inspired by Duke Ellington"s "Dear Old Southland" record which he occasionally purchased in Harbin for a private party, Lundstrem joined forces with eight other young Russian amateur musicians and formed the Oleg Lundstrem Orchestra. In 1936, the band moved to Shanghai, where they immediately became popular among the public.
Until 1947, the band was an important part of Shanghai jazz scene, along with Buck Clayton Orchestra.
After World World War II, in 1947, Lundstrem returned to the Soviet Union and settled in Kazan, where he worked as a violinist in the opera and ballet theatre, while keeping his jazz orchestra as a side acting In 1956, the Oleg Lundstrem Orchestra moved to Moscow.
Lundstrem was appointed by the Soviet cultural authorities as the orchestra"s art director and conductor. In 1994, the Guinness Book of Records recognized the Lundstrem band as the oldest continuously existing jazz band in the world.
In 1998, he was awarded the Russian Federation State Award.
He died at the age of 89 from natural causes at his home in the village of Valentinovka, Moscow suburbs, and was buried at the cemetery of the Obraztsovo village, Moscow suburbs. "Mirage" - 1947 "The Lilac is Flourishing" - 1955 "Improvisation" ("Atom-bugi") - 1957 "Humoresque" - 1958 "A Song Without Words" - 1960 "Etude for the band" - 1960 "Prologue" - 1963 "Bukhara Design" - 1972 "In the mountains of Georgia" - 1973 "The Ways of Love" - 1975 "Speedway" - 1980 "The Legend of Söyembikä" - 1981 "At Dawn" - 1984 Honoured Artist of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (1973).
