Biography
Isaak Osipovich Dunayevsky also Dunaevsky or Dunaevski (Russian: Исаак Осипович Дунаевский; 30 January [O.S. 18 January] 1900 Lokhvitsa, Poltava - 25 July 1955, Moscow) was a Soviet composer and conductor, who specialized in "light music" for operetta and film comedies, frequently working with the film director Grigory Aleksandrov.
Dunayevsky studied at the Kharkiv Musical School in 1910 where he studied violin under Joseph Achron (1886-1943). During this period he started to study the theory of music under Semyon Bogatyrev (1890-1960). He graduated in 1919 from the Kharkiv Conservatory. At first he was a violinist, the leader of the orchestra in Kharkiv. Then he started a conducting career. In 1924 he went to Moscow to run the Theatre Hermitage. After that he worked in Leningrad (1929-1941) as a director and conductor of the "Music-Hall" (1929-1934) and then moved to Moscow to work on his operettas and film music.
Read full biography ↓
He was named a People's Artist of the USSR (1950) and was awarded the USSR State Prize (twice in 1941, 1951), two orders, and many medals (for instance, the Order of the Red Labour Banner, the Order of the Red Star, and the Badge of Honour).
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.