Levko Dutkivskyi (Lev Tarasovych Dutkovskyi, born 9 April 1943, Kuty, now Ivano-Frankivsk region) is a Ukrainian musician and composer, founder and leader of the vocal and instrumental ensemble Smerichka, People's Artist of Ukraine, director, teacher, and one of the founders of Ukrainian pop music.
In 1963, he graduated from the Mukachevo Music College with a degree in music and singing.
In 1977, he graduated from the Kyiv State Institute of Culture named after O. Korniichuk (specializing in directing mass spectacles).
In 1966, in the Bukovyna town of Vyzhnytsia, Levko Dutkivsky created the big-beat band Smerichka, which was the first to use electric instruments and became one of the first VVIPs in the former USSR.
In 1968, he married Alla Dutkovska. He was 25 and she was 18.
For the ensemble, Dutkivsky wrote and arranged the songs "Snowflakes Fall" (1966), "Wish" (1967), "Autumn Walks in the Carpathians" (1968) based on the lyrics by Anatoliy Fartushniak, the rock composition "Cheremoshe Gray" (1969) based on the lyrics by Mykola Nehoda, the blues ballad "Violin Without Strings" (1971) based on the lyrics by Anatoliy Dragomyretsky, and others. These works with elements of rock, pop music, jazz, and Ukrainian folklore defined the creative direction of Smerichka, which gave Ukrainian pop song a new musical wave in the 60s and 70s of the twentieth century. Levko Dutkivsky taught the vast majority of musicians to play musical instruments from scratch, wrote and learned song scores with them, and taught them to sing, working on their vocal style. At that time, Smerichka was easily recognizable without announcements on radio and television. The ensemble, with its original style of performance, stood out among other similar groups in Ukraine that attempted to copy Smerichka."
Dutkivsky's peculiar and innovative musical style and manner of performance Dutkivsky's unique and innovative musical style and manner of performance were picked up by a young student of the Chernivtsi Medical Institute, Volodymyr Ivasyuk. Ivasyuk brought his first compositions to Dutkivsky, which, thanks to the Smerichky ensemble, became popular all over the world. Led by Levko Dutkivsky, the ensemble won prizes with the songs "Chervona Ruta" and "Vodohrai" at the All-Union TV contests "Song-71" and "Song-72". And in 1972, the Smerichka ensemble with Dutkivsky's song "Horyanka" with lyrics by Mykola Leontiuk won the "Hello, We're Looking for Talents" TV contest in Moscow.
Since 1973, Dutkivsky has been working with Smerichka at the Chernivtsi Regional Philharmonic and has toured almost all the republics of the then USSR and abroad (1973-1982). He composed over 100 pieces of music that became the property of Ukrainian pop art and were included in the repertoire of prominent, popular singers and bands. Levko Dutkivsky's songs were recorded by the Moscow company Melodiya on 14 discs (1970-1991), by the Canadian company Evshan (1979), and others, published in many collections, and featured in the television films Chervona Ruta (Ukrtelefilm, 1971), Smerichka Ensemble Performs Under the Direction of Levko Dutkivsky (Tallinfilm, 1975), and others.
Thanks to Dutkivsky and the Smerichka ensemble he directed, the professional rise and popularity of the Smerichka soloists began Nazariy Yaremchuk and Vasyl Zinkevych, composer Volodymyr Ivasyuk, and singers: Sofia Rotaru, Lyudmyla Artemenko, Ivo Bobul, Pavlo Dvorsky, and others.
In 1996, he founded and directed the N. Yaremchuk All-Ukrainian Pop Song Festival in Vyzhnytsia. Levko Dutkivsky constantly works with gifted young people, is a chairman and jury member of prestigious song festivals. He heads the Nazariy Yaremchuk Regional Charitable Foundation on a voluntary basis.
Honors and awards
Levko Dutkivsky is a laureate of all-Ukrainian festivals as a composer (1988, 1997, 1998, 2001), winner of the "Songwriters of the Twentieth Century" festival for the popular recognition of the song "If You Love, Love" based on the poems of Mykhailo Tkach (2000) in Kyiv.
In 1981, he was awarded the title of Honored Artist of the Ukrainian SSR.
In 1994, he was awarded the title of Honorary Citizen of Vyzhnytsia.
In 1997, he won the Grand Prix of the President of Ukraine for his poetry and music for the rock cantata "Virgin Mary, Save Us Ukraine."
1997 - People's Artist of Ukraine.
In 1997, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of Merit by the Ukrainian Rifle Association of Canada for his services to Ukraine.
In 2000, he was inducted into the "Alley of Stars" in Chernivtsi.
In 2008, he was awarded the honorary award of the Chernivtsi City Council - the medal "In Glory of Chernivtsi".
In 2010, he was awarded the honorary award "Bukovyna" of the Chernivtsi Regional State Administration.
In 2011, he was awarded the honorary award "For Merit to Vizhnytsia Region" by the Vizhnytsia District State Administration and the Vizhnytsia District Council.
In 2013, he was awarded the Order of Merit, III degree.
2014 - awarded the title of "Honorary Citizen of Chernivtsi".
In 2018, he was awarded the honorary award "For the Glory of Bukovyna" by the Chernivtsi Regional State Administration.
2018 - awarded the title "Honorary Citizen of Bukovyna".
2018 - awarded by the Chernivtsi Regional State Administration with the jubilee award "100 years of Bukovyna Viche"
2019 - Chevalier of the Order of Merit, II degree.
