The band traces its history to the times of the "great silent", when in September 1924 the Moscow ARS Cinema on Tverskaya Street replaced their accompanying pianist by an orchestra. As musical accompaniment of films was a success with audiences, the orchestra, led by composer and conductor David Block, soon went on to play in other cinemas as well. Since then, the orchestra has never lost its connection with the film industry. In 1938, the orchestra, which had had no staff musicians until then, got assigned to the Soyuzdetfilm studio of children’s films. In 1943, the Soyuzdetfilm orchestra and choir became an autonomous structure of the national scale.
The orchestra has contributed to the creation of the best of pre-war and wartime films by outstanding directors such as Sergei Eisenstein, Vsevolod Pudovkin, Grigory Alexandrov, Grigory Kozintsev, and Ivan Pyrev. During the war, it was evacuated to Central Asia, continuing to be involved in virtually every Soviet film and frontline chronicle. The year 1944 was marked by two historic events: the orchestra recorded Sergei Prokofiev's music for Sergei Eisenstein's film Ivan the Terrible and gave a concert marking its 20th anniversary at the Column Hall of the House of Unions, which opened with the newly recorded music by Dmitry Shostakovich for Leo Arnstam's film Zoya.
In the post-war decades, the orchestra recorded music for many films, including Grigory Chukhray's Ballad of a Soldier (music by Mikhail Ziv), Sergei Bondarchuk's War and Peace (music by Vyacheslav Ovchinnikov), Operation Y and Shurik's Other Adventures, Kidnapping, Caucasian Style, The Diamond Arm, Twelve Chairs, Ivan Vasilievich Changes Profession by Leonid Gaidai (music by Alexander Zatsepin), The Very Same Munchhausen by Mark Zakharov (music by Alexei Rybnikov), Mary Poppins, Goodbye! by Leonid Kvinikhidze (music by Maxim Dunaevsky), The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed by Stanislav Govorukhin (music by Yevgeny Gevorgyan), Moscow Does Not Believe In Tears by Vladimir Menshov (music by Sergei Nikitin), The Pokrovsky Gate by Mikhail Kozakov (music by Georgy Garanyan) and many others.
Since 1993, the orchestra has been headed by Sergey Skripka, who has managed to preserve it and sustain its high performing standards. The orchestra’s recent highlights include recording music by Eduard Artemyev, Yuri Krasavin, Artem Vasilyev, Angelo Badalamenti and other composers for films and series such as Sunstroke by Nikita Mikhalkov, The Nutcracker in 3D, The Postman's White Nights by Andrei Konchalovsky, Liquidation, Quiet Flows The Don, and Life and Fate by Sergei Ursuliak, The Brest Fortress and Spitak by Alexander Kott, Dostoevskiy, Demons, and The Parvus Memorandum by Vladimir Khotinenko, Weekend and The End of a Beautiful Epoch by Stanislav Govorukhin, The Spacewalker by Dmitry Kiselev, Legend No. 17 and Flight Crew by Nikolai Lebedev, Stalingrad by Fedor Bondarchuk, The Road to Calvary by Konstantin Khudyakov, The Spirit of Sonora (based on the rock opera The Star and Death of Joaquin Murieta) The Liturgy of the Heathens by Alexei Rybnikov, The Bronze Horseman of Russia by Vasily Livanov, Sobibor by Konstantin Khabensky and many others.
Russia’s best composers have collaborated with the orchestra, including Isaac Dunayevsky, Sergei Prokofiev, Dmitri Shostakovich, Georgy Sviridov, Edison Denisov, Alfred Schnittke, Sofia Gubaidulina, Andrei Petrov, Rodion Shchedrin, Andrei Eshpai, Giya Kancheli, Eduard Artemyev, Gennady Gladkov, Vladimir Dashkevich, Evgeny Doga, and others. In various years, it has performed under the baton of David Block, Alexander Gauk, Vasily Nebolsin, Grigory Gamburg, Nikolai Anosov, Ariy Pazovsky, Nikolai Golovanov, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Evgeny Svetlanov, Mark Ermler, Gaziz Dugashev, Veronika Dudarova, Yuri Silantyev, Arnold Roitman, Emin Khachaturian, Yuri Nikolaevsky, Vladimir Vasiliev, Martin Nersesian, David Shtilman, Konstantin Krimets, and Nikolai Sokolov. The orchestra’s concerts have featured David Oistrakh, Emil Gilels, Ivan Kozlovsky, Mstislav Rostropovich, Galina Vishnevskaya, Boris Gmyria, Vladimir Krainev, Daniel Shafran, Alexander Slobodianik, Mikhail Pletnev, and Dmitry Hvorostovsky.
The orchestra is highly mobile and flexible, capable of playing in large and small ensembles, transforming into pop and jazz groups, and combining concerts with studio recordings. It regularly participates in the Moscow Philharmonic's subscription programs, the best of which have been Live Screen Music at the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall and Cinema without Borders at the Philharmonia-2. For more than two decades, the orchestra collaborated with the outstanding musicologist and lecturer Svetlana Vinogradova. The musicians have been regular participants of several music festivals including December Nights of Svyatoslav Richter, Music of Friends, Moscow Autumn, Slavic Bazaar, Festival of Russian Culture in India, and major television concert projects, such as Phantom of the Opera on Channel One Russia and The Big Opera on TV Kultura. In 2013, the orchestra received the Russian Government Grant.
