Wherever in the literal world Dovas Lietuvninkas finds himself for his music, there’s a road in his mind that leads back to Riverside.
The village native, who attended Ames Elementary School, Hauser Junior High and Riverside-Brookfield High School, is associate principal trumpet for none other than the prestigious New York Philharmonic.
That’s a long way from RB, but the memories?
They’re worth everything to him, even when he’s on stage in New York or Europe.
“Oh yeah,” the 2012 graduate said via a recent phone interview. “My life basically at RB revolved around the music department. I was in the bands – the jazz band, marching band, madrigals, the men’s ensemble.
“I took AP music theory and a bunch of us would eat lunch in the music wing because that was our home, basically.”
Good times. But even better ones were on the horizon.
In 2016, he earned bachelor’s degrees in trumpet performance and music from the Eastman School of Music; and the next year, he was awarded a Fulbright grant to study trumpet in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. A year after that he found himself as the principal trumpet for the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra.
And after all that, he studied in Finland and the Netherlands before joining the New York Philharmonic in September, after stops at the orchestras of Hartford and New Haven, and the Louisville Orchestra.
That’s a far cry from 160 Ridgewood Road, his former high school stomping ground.
“Music culture is just as strong in the U.S. as anywhere else, but as far as classical music, the traditions run a little deeper” in Europe, he said. “There is more government support, for example, but culturally it’s more to your standard musical diet.
“Vilnius is not a huge city, well under a million [people], but it boards two full-time symphony orchestras, a full-time opera and ballet, several full-time chamber orchestras and a vibrant contemporary music scene.”
But he’s in the Big Apple now, and the music that became his life here as a youngster is that much richer and nuanced.
As associate principal trumpet, he takes his cues from principal trumpet Chris Martin – who Lietuvninkas saw perform when the latter was a member of the Chicago Symphony.
“Generally when he’s up there, I’m playing third trumpet down the line from him,” Lietuvninkas said. “The role is a mix of playing third and first trumpet when the first trumpet isn’t there or needs some relief.”
This is a full-time orchestra, and thus a full-time job for Lietuvninkas. The regular season begins in September and the New York Philharmonic performs multiple shows every week. That includes up to five concerts in a week’s time. The season runs through July and after an August 2027 break, he’ll start up again next September.
So what’s it like, being up there on stage, under the hot lights with virtually no margin for error?
“First and foremost, it’s such a joy,” he said. “I just love sharing what I love with people, to sit on stage with the best musicians in the world and make music at the highest level with some of the greatest pieces.
“Gustav Mahler’s fifth symphony is a big piece for trumpets. For me as a trumpet player, and a huge Mahler fan, playing Mahler five to 10 times in the last month, it’s an absolute gift.”
No doubt he gets to do some pretty cool things. The week of the interview for this story, Lietuvninkas and his orchestral cohort were working on the soundtrack for a forthcoming Jordan Peele motion picture. In December he’ll be working on the soundtrack for a new Harry Potter film.
But his other passion is education. He’s still getting settled in New York, but he’s got time for private lessons and on the road he’ll fill in for mentors at colleges or conservatories. That’s not all. He’s also commissioned many new works for the trumpet. In that realm, the key is building a solid relationship with the composer.
“The greatest thing is bringing it to life and bringing forth the composer’s vision,” he said. “If I can show them something new and different and unexpected, it often brings them into wider horizons.”
Horizons. That’s what Lietuvninkas started with as an RB student, and he recognizes there are kids there just like him that are staring at their own musical horizon.
His advice?
“We’ll be playing at Carnegie Hall next month,” he said. “How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice. We practice not to polish our technique and just to play faster, higher and louder, but so that we have at our disposal the maximum amount of colors and sounds and capabilities.
“It’s not an easy road. It takes a lot of dedication and self-discipline.”