From his home in Latvia to Lynchburg, Virginia, Associate Professor of Music at Liberty University Dr. Yevgenijs Duvalyuks continues to use his talents for the glory of God both on stage and in the classroom.
Dovgaļuks is a world-renowned violinist who has performed in premiere concert venues throughout the United States and Europe, including Latvia, Sweden, Great Britain, Ukraine and Russia. He has served as alternate violinist for the National Symphony Orchestra for many years and has performed with some of the world’s greatest artists, including Yoyo Ma, Joshua Bell, Gidon Kramer, Wynton Marsalis, Stevie Wonder, The Gettys, Michael W. Smith and Amy Grant and Martina McBride and many others.
“It was an amazing experience and opportunity,” he said. “World-renowned artists perform in large venues, and many of those concerts have been at the Capital One Arena in Washington, DC.
Dovgalyuk has received numerous performance awards, including Piedmont Symphony Orchestra Honorary Concertmaster, University of Maryland Assistant Professor of Ensembles, and the George Mason University Conducting Award. During his career, he also worked as a concert director with various orchestras. In 2017, he was named Music Director of the Lynchburg Symphony Orchestra, a position he continues to hold today.
Dovgaluks was born in Latvia in 1980 and together with his parents and three siblings immigrated to the USA when he was 11 years old due to the persecution of the Soviet Union.
“At that time there was a big test with the withdrawal from the Soviet Union,” he said. “We were able to get out of there with a parish church and a pastor’s family in the United States, but my grandfather’s faith and vision was what brought us to America in the first place.”
Several years ago, his grandfather refused to leave Christ and was taken to a concentration camp in Siberia, where he was imprisoned in a coal mine for 12 years. He was released only after the change of government leadership.
Dovgalyuk still remembers his grandfather’s stories and says they contributed to his spiritual life.
“I draw a lot from my family heritage in my relationship with the Lord. It spans generations. It didn’t start with me. It starts with my grandfather. I know what he did and how loyal he was in the face of death. . It really inspires me personally.”
Due to the turmoil and uncertainty caused by the collapse of the Soviet Union, Dovgalyuk’s parents wanted to raise their children in a country where they would find freedom of religion and job opportunities.
Soon after he immigrated to the United States, his mother’s new boyfriend, a missionary who was a member of the National Symphony Orchestra, came to their home and heard the children playing their instruments. I soon helped them hire some of the best music teachers in the area.
By age 17, Duvaljuk had become a member of the National Symphony Orchestra and was awarded a scholarship to study music at George Mason University.
“It was amazing how the Lord worked it out,” he said. “I was able to go there and not get any loans, and I was able to continue living at home with my parents.”
After receiving BA and MA degrees from George Mason, Dovgaliuk earned a Doctorate of Music in violin performance from the University of Maryland, while continuing to perform with artists and orchestras in the Washington area and primarily on the East Coast. In 2016, looking for more consistent work to support his growing family, he came across Liberty hiring as an assistant professor teaching applied violin. He commuted to Liberty two days a week and was hired full-time a year later when he moved to Lynchburg with his wife, Kate, and two children, Misha and Aliyah.
Doigaluk continued to play with the National Symphony Orchestra in an alternative capacity, often appearing at the Kennedy Center in Washington.
“I like going to play with them,” he said. “Most of them are really my friends now, and some of them I’ve been playing with since 2014.”
One of Dovgaluk’s favorite memories with the orchestra was somewhat of a harbinger of his future with Liberty. In 2014, he joined Michael W. Smith (current director of the Center for Commercial Music in the School of Music) at the Kennedy Center for an evening of worship.
“That memory was and still is special in my mind. It’s locked in my memory bank forever,” he said.
Since then, Dovgaliuk and Smith have had the opportunity to speak when Smith visits campus and teaches students.
“I talked to him a few times, and I remembered that concert with him,” Duvalyuk said.
As much as he admires Liberty’s excellence in all academic areas, Dovgallyuk said he deeply appreciates the school’s mission to prioritize mental well-being alongside career advancement.
“Shortly after arriving at Liberty, I spoke with one of the directors of the music school, and I remember him saying, ‘Don’t forget that Liberty’s mission is not only to train great violinists, but to Character training for ChristDovgalyuk said. Then he said: (We encourage you to pray with your students, connect with them on a personal level and care for them spiritually).
“It’s amazing because I get to know what’s going on in my students’ lives and what they feel comfortable sharing,” he added. “We can pray for these things, including their musical and other life pursuits.”
Recently, in an effort to raise awareness of those suffering in Ukraine, where some of his relatives live, Dovgallyuk and some of his students performed the late Ukrainian composer Miroslav Skorik’s “Melody” on violin for a school video. own social network. Skorik wrote the piece in 1981 to express his understanding of tragedy and deep sadness. Since then, it has become the spiritual anthem of Ukraine.
“It was a solid project to work on,” he said. “I prepared the students and they performed well.”
Many of Dovgalyuk’s relatives live in areas of Ukraine that have so far survived the ongoing Russian invasion.
“My family is not being harmed, but (Liberty) joins the global community of believers in prayer in this tragic and devastating war,” he said.
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In addition to classical music, such as the Skoryk anthem, Dovgalyuk also likes other genres.
He said: “It’s true that my background is classical and I like classical music, but I also like all kinds of music and one of the core values of a music school is stylistic diversity. I really like it because we need to be able to play different genres to be well-rounded musicians.
In addition to teaching and assisting with the Lynchburg Symphony Orchestra, the North Carolina Symphony Orchestra, and occasional appearances with the National Symphony Orchestra, Doigalyuk was recently appointed Minister of Music at Core Street United Methodist Church in downtown Lynchburg.
He said, “It also provided a great opportunity to continue to learn more about the world of worship music, what worship is and how to engage people… how to engage God through music and lead them in that direction to Him. Everything we do.”
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