Born in 1984 in Ukraine, Dima Bondarev began playing the trumpet at the age of nine, starting with classical music before discovering his passion for jazz. Between 2008 and 2013, he became a prominent figure on the Ukrainian jazz scene, performing at major festivals and touring extensively as a member of the acclaimed Acoustic Quartet and Magnifika Group.

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In 2011 and 2016, Bondarev was awarded the prestigious Polish Cultural Scholarship Gaude Polonia, studying in Warsaw and Wrocław with Piotr Wojtasik and Robert Majewski. Since 2013, he has been based in Berlin, where he earned both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees at the Jazz Institut Berlin, studying with Gerard Presencer, Tom Arthurs, Sebastian Studnitzky, John Hollenbeck, Greg Cohen, Geoffrey De Masure, Julia Hülsmann, Tino Derado, Guilherme Castro, and Javier Reyes. During his studies, he received the JIB Jazz Prize of the Karl Hofer Gesellschaft (2015) and the Deutschlandstipendium (2017). After completing his Master’s in composition in 2020, he was granted the Elsa-Neumann Stipendium scholarship.

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In 2021, Bondarev joined the Focusyear program at Jazzcampus Basel (CH), studying under Ambrose Akinmusire and collaborating with internationally renowned jazz artists.

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Throughout his career, Bondarev has collaborated with Aaron Parks, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Gilad Hekselman, Larry Grenadier, Logan Richardson, Cuong Vu, Kris Davis, Lionel Loueke, Jorge Rossy, Wolfgang Muthspiel, Elena Pinderhughes, Greg Cohen, Doug Weiss, Joey Baron, Conrad Herwig, Steve Turre, Nels Cline, Jim Black, the NDR Big Band, Brussels Jazz Orchestra, Guillermo Klein, Josh Ginsburg, Wanja Slavin, Elias Stemeseder, Ingrid Laubrock, and many others. He also leads his own projects, beginning with his debut album I’m Wondering (Unit Records, 2017).

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On January 31, 2025, he released his second album Get a Second Will — featuring Wanja Slavin, Igor Spallati, and Jim Black — to critical acclaim. That same year, he was nominated for and won the German Jazz Prize in the Brass category.

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As both a bandleader and sideman, Bondarev has performed at major festivals including the North Sea Jazz Festival (Netherlands), Umbria Jazz Festival (Italy), XJazz Festival, Berlin Jazz Fest (Germany), Jazz nad Odrą (Poland), Jazz Bez, Leopolis Jazz Fest (Ukraine), and Jazz à Montauban (France), among many others.