—Interview conducted by Andrew Sieradzki ’26E, Eastman Communications Intern
On Wednesday, November 6th, the Eastman Wind Ensemble performs works by three of the most prominent contemporary voices in music for the wind ensemble: Joel Puckett, Joseph Schwantner, and John Mackey. Connections to Eastman can be found in all three: Schwantner served on the composition faculty for three decades, Mackey’s “Venomous Devices” was premiered last fall by the Eastman Saxophone Project and was commissioned in commemoration of Eastman’s centennial, and Puckett’s “15th Night of the Moon” is special because it will feature Dovas Lietuvninkas ’16E as trumpet soloist. Since graduating with a bachelor’s degree in music performance and music education, Lietuvninkas has had a varied and fascinating start to his career. We recently reconnected with him to talk about his journey across the world and this upcoming performance
Q: Many people talk about a “five year plan” when beginning their professional careers. You had great successes in the first five years after you graduated from Eastman. Can you tell us about what those years entailed for you and your career?
A: It’s funny that you should mention a “five year plan” given that practically nothing I ended up doing went “according to plan.” At Eastman I was a double major in performance and music education and the original plan was to move back to Chicago after graduating and get a job as a band director. However, towards the end of my time at Eastman, a classmate who had received a Fulbright himself recommended that I apply, and I thought, “Why not?” On the off chance I get it, the band director job can wait a year. Next thing I knew, I was in Lithuania nearing the end of my Fulbright year and there was a sudden opening for principal trumpet of the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra (LNSO). Once again, I found myself asking, “Why not?” Soon, I was playing fulltime in an orchestra and working on a master’s degree in performance in two different countries and I quickly adopted a “go with the flow” philosophy towards life: say yes, experience new things, dream big, and see where the journey takes you. That philosophy subsequently led me to an unforgettable experience in Amsterdam as a member of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Academy program and eventually led me back to the US where I continue on my journey as an artist and educator––just not in the ways I might have imagined all those years ago.
Q: What differences have you realized having won auditions with European orchestras and American orchestras?
A: In my experience, the one really major difference is the governmental support of orchestras (or lack thereof). This difference was made incredibly apparent in the spring of 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. As a national entity, the LNSO has most of its budget come directly from the government and, as such, we were incredibly lucky to continue to receive our salaries throughout the entire lockdown. Contrast that with the US where members of some of the top orchestras in the country lost not only their salaries but also their healthcare when everything shut down. Another difference I have found is that there seems to be a much healthier appetite for contemporary music in Europe. We had world premieres from local composers on our stands on a regular basis in Lithuania, and the concerts put on as part of the city-wide contemporary music festival GAIDA were some of our most popular year after year (often selling out within days). Significant governmental support also allows the Lithuanian National Philharmonic Society (which includes the LNSO, Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, two string quartets and an early music ensemble) to keep ticket prices affordable and thus more accessible to a larger portion of the public.
Q: “15th Night of the Moon” is a very introspective piece, both in its source material of Joseph Campbell’s The Way of Animal Powers and his lecture The Way of Art, as well as the composition itself. What have you taken away from the experience of preparing for this performance and what would you like to take away from it after the fact?
A: At its core, I believe this piece––and pretty much all art, for that matter––really comes down to the simple act of storytelling. Whether I’m teaching or playing, I’m constantly reminded of something I learned in my first music education class at Eastman with the great Chris Azzara: that there is nothing more human than sitting around a fire with those close to us and telling each other stories.
While preparing for this piece when I gave its European premiere in Lithuania last year, I watched the six part documentary series “The Power of Myth,” which featured Campbell in conversation with journalist Bill Moyers, and I was fascinated to learn how deeply the myths we as humans created have shaped our world. I learned a lot about how integral and universal storytelling is to us as a species and the role that art has played in developing and preserving these stories––these myths––throughout millenia, and started to really understand my role as a storyteller through my instrument.
In the case of “15th Night of the Moon,” the piece on its surface is telling a story of an !Kung shaman who undergoes a transformational spiritual journey through both physical and metaphysical realms, but of course it’s much more than that. The 15th night in question (when the moon is halfway through its phase cycle and appears on the eastern horizon just as the sun is slipping under the western horizon) is a metaphor for the transformational moment in a human life––the pivotal moment when your life, your experience, your identity is truly yours to shape as you will, no longer bound by the protective walls of youth but not yet confined to the limits of old age. I find myself in this very moment of my life and so I feel a deep connection to the story being told through the notes Joel Puckett wrote on the page (and brilliantly so, I might add). This concerto is an incredible piece of music, full of beauty and transcendence and humanity and I hope that anyone who comes to hear it will hear some of their own life story reflected within it. Perhaps after this performance I’ll have discovered something new about what may lie ahead for me in this unpredictable journey we call life. After all, why not?
Eastman Wind Ensemble featuring Dovas Lietuvninkas, trumpet
Wednesday, November 6
Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre | 7:30
Free and open-to-the-public
Photograph by Jonas Krivickas.