Sergey Lunkevich
Sergey Lunkevich was a Moldovan, Soviet conductor, violinist, composer, actor, and folklorist. Born in Chisinau, he began violin lessons with music teacher Naum Vilik. He studied at the E. Coca Music School in Chisinau and graduated from the Chisinau Conservatory, completing violin studies in 1957 and conducting and composition studies in 1958.
From 1955 to 1957, Lunkevich played violin in the Moldovan Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra. In 1958 he became first violinist, artistic director, and chief conductor of the folk orchestra of the Fluerash Song and Dance Ensemble. He toured internationally with the orchestra and collected Moldovan folk music; he was also known as an interpreter of that repertoire and was called “the last lautari.”
Lunkevich wrote and arranged music for folk-instrument orchestra, including “Gypsy’s Longing” (1962), “Ignat’s Invartita” (1963), “Lipkan Syrba” (1965), and “In Memory of Victor Khara” (1971), as well as songs and film music. He appeared in the films Marianne (1967) and Lautarii (1971), and co-composed the music for Red Meadows (1966). His honors included the titles of Honored Artist of the Moldavian SSR and People’s Artist of the Moldavian SSR and the USSR.
He died in Chisinau in 1995 and was buried in the Central (Armenian) Cemetery. In 2003, the Moldovan Philharmonic was named after him.