Valeriy Didyula

Valery Mikhailovich Didula (Belarusian: Валерій Міхайловіч Дзідзюля — Romanized: Valeriy Mikhaylovich Dzidzyulya), better known by his stage name, DiDuLa, is a Soviet-Belarusian guitarist, bouzoukist, composer and producer. He is known as the founder of the Belarusian-Russian instrumental folk band, DiDuLa.

Didula grew up in Grodno, Belarus, and was fascinated by music from a young age. He learned how to play the guitar at the age of five, In 1989, Didula was recruited into a dance ensemble known as the Scarlet Dawns. He learned a lot about music production from his mentor Nikolai Khitrik, composer of the Scarlet Dawns.

After the Scarlet Dawns' disbandment in 1991, Didula was recruited into the White Dews, another dance ensemble with influences from mostly Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian and Gypsy folk music and dance. As part of this ensemble, Didula first went on tour in Europe, visiting countries such as Spain, Italy, Poland, Switzerland, France, Germany. His father, Mikhail, was a highly skilled mechanic, and his mother, Galina, was an accountant. At the age of five, Galina gifted Didula his first guitar as a birthday present, and he was hooked on it from then on. Like any child, Didula had all sorts of record players as a child, which also had a strong influence on him. His first guitar also marked the beginning of his experiments with sound. He attached a pickup to the guitar, used homemade amplifiers, and devised all sorts of devices.

"When I was five, my mother gave me a guitar. My first impressions, of course, were very memorable: a big, beautiful toy, shiny, with taut strings." Didula states in an interview, "Later, as an adult, I realized it was a wonderful instrument, capable of bringing both joy and sorrow. You need to talk to a guitar, and it will tell you a lot. Today, the guitar is a whole world for me. Music defies words; it's difficult to talk about. It's a way of self-expression, my alter ego, an instrument with its own character, its own surprises, its own pros and cons. Between me and the guitar lies a small, but incredibly interesting life." Adolescense Around the age of 14 or 15 his passion for the guitar grew into a conscious need, and the instrument became an integral part of his life. At 16, he wrote his first compositions.

Career

The Scarlet Dawns and the White Dews Didyulya's professional guitar career began around 1989, when he played as the third guitarist in the vocal and dance ensemble, the Scarlet Dawns. The Scarlet Dawns performed on state farms, collective farms, and concert halls. Nikolai Khitrik, the composer of the Scarlet Dawns, described by Didula as his "mentor", provided him with much experience with music production. During the process, several people quit, after which the performances continued at a local cooperative restaurant. It was an incredible experience, six hours of playing every evening, seven days a week, and having breaks were rare. A wide variety of music was played throughout the process. Didula also earned his first paychecks, which he was very proud of, as earning money doing what he loves is everyone's dream.

Solo career

1991–1998 After the disbandment of the White Dews, Didula went on to work on his solo career, working with his former band members Vladimir Zakharov (guitarist) and Dmitry Kurakulov (choreographer). Some time later, Didula heard about a music competition on Belarusian television that invited young musicians. He decided to give it a try. If a musician made it through the qualifying round, a future was in store. Didula, Kurakulov, and Zakharov took their equipment and traveled to Gdańsk, Poland, where the competition was being held. After passing the qualifying round, the trio went on to pass through the next round, eventually performing at the gala concert.

Thanks to his resounding success, Didula became a professional solo guitarist. Didula later moved to Minsk, where he found a job as a sales consultant at entrepreneur and pianist Igor Bruskin's music store. His acquaintance with Bruskin allowed Didula to gain significant experience interacting and collaborating with recording studios, concert halls, and other musical organizations. Later on, a program for the 1998 Slavic Bazaar festival in Vitbesk invited all the musicians who had passed in the competition Didula competed in. The festival performance at the Slavic Bazaar was broadcast on television throughout the CIS, the Baltic countries, Poland, and Bulgaria. The festival inspired Didula to pursue a solo career.

Didula's team met Sergey Migachev, a sound producer working for Samara musician and singer, Arkady Motov, who was well-versed in music, analog technology, and modern computers. After a year of intense collaboration, with the support of Kulishenko and Migachev, Didula recorded and released their debut album, Flamenco. In spite of the failure of his collaboration with Monolit, Baldin's faith inspired Didula to continue playing and focus on club performances. By performing and analyzing what the audience liked best, Didula was able to improve his album and create new, interesting sounds on the guitar. At one of his concerts, employees of Global Music met with Didula and invited him to a meeting. Global Music expressed interest in the project and agreed to collaborate. A first contract was signed with Didula, but for unknown reasons, the company remained inactive. The project reached a dead end, and Didula terminated his contract with Global Music. with Ruslana Gerasemenkova In 2004, DiDuLa recorded and released their first album together, Legend, which included the fan-favorite composition "The Way Home". Didula also assisted Belarusian composer and guitarist, Denis Asimovich, in recording his album Hommage to Cheslav Drozdevich, and it was thanks to his participation that the recording of "Dedication to Cheslav Drozdevich" was completed in 2008 shortly before Denis Asimovich's death that same year. After the concert, DiDuLa and the OTTA Orchestra toured together throughout 2011. On 8 December 2011, DiDuLa performed at another grand concert at the State Kremlin Palace. Unlike the previous Kremlin concert, fewer compositions were performed. The OTTA Orchestra performed alongside the band again. After this performance, a friend of DiDuLa's met a woman named Evgenia Kostennikova, whom he started dating.

On 6 December 2012, DiDuLa released their eighth album Ornamental, featuring compositions initially performed with the OTTA Orchestra at the Kremlin concerts. That same year, Didula assisted Igor Dedusenko on producing his album Prayer (2012). From 2012 to 2013, Didula toured the United States, performing in cities such as Miami and New York. In 2013, the compilation album One Day Today was released. Didula and Kostennikova married in 2013, and gave birth to a daughter named Arina around 2015. In 2014, DiDuLa collaborated with Australian pop singer, Max Lawrence, on a song titled "Now You're Gone". They applied the song to for parcipitation in Eurovision, which was supported by the Belarusian public. Although the Belarusian public (including their president) wanted DiDuLa and Lawrence to represent their country at Eurovision, Belarus was ultimately represented by another singer, Teo.

2015–2019 Didula's wife, Evgenia Kostennikova, now going by the stage name, EVgenika, began performing with her husband in 2015. Throughout 2016, EVgenika performed with the band in clubs such as Jagger, Red, and Volta. Didula also assisted EVgenika in producing her debut self-titled studio album that same year.

COVID Era TBA

2023–2026 TBA

Awards Grand Prix (2002) at the 2002 Venice Film Festival for Andrei Konchalovsky's movie, House of Fools (2002). White Elephant (2010) for Alexei Balbanov's movie, A Stoker (2010).

DiDuLa lineup

Musicians

Current members

Valery Didula – guitar, bouzouki (2002–PRESENT) Valery Skladanny – woodwinds, saxophone (2007–PRESENT) Vitaly Barmenkov – bass guitar, classical bass (2020–PRESENT) Vasily Koloda – percussion, drums, hand drums (2020–PRESENT) Ivan Aksenov – keyboards (2023–PRESENT) Mikhail Drumberg – percussion, drum kit, cajon (2023–PRESENT) Yekaterina Smirnova – violin (2020–PRESENT) Araksia Kirakosyan – viola (2020–PRESENT) Lidiya Shabalina – cello (2020–PRESENT)

Past members

Yaroslav Oboldin – bass guitar (2002–2010) Artem Lapin – bass guitar (2011–2013) Philip Borodin – bass guitar, classical bass (2014–2019) Alexander Leonov – keyboards (2002–2006) Alex Astero – keyboards (2007–2010) Khaibula Magomedov – keyboards, piano (2010–2022) Kirill Rossolimo – hand drums, cajon, darbuka (2002–2003) Gamlet Farzaliyev – drum kit, percussion (2002–2003) J. Zair Omer – hand drums, cajon, darbuka (2004–2005) Andrei Atabekov – drum kit, cajon, djembe (2004–2010) Alexander Sazonov – drum kit, cajon, darbuka (2006) Rustem Bari – hand drums, darbuka, djembe (2006–2019) Alexander Leer – percussion, drum kit, cajon (2010–2019) Ramil Mulikov – brass, trumpet, trombone (2011–2019) Aliyah Kurbanova – dancer (2003–2005) Karina Bagmadzhyan – dancer (2003–2004 & 2007–2008) Natalia Riabchenko – dancer (2004–2006) Amira – dancer (2006) Natalia Vorontsova – dancer (2009)

Technicians

Timur Salikhov – tour manager (2002–PRESENT) Sergei Migachev – producer (2002–2009) Max Velocity – montage director (2003) Victor Vasilyev – montage director (2008) Boris Solodovnikov – sound engineer (2002–2005) Raisa Struk – sound engineer (2006) Marina Vydshedko – sound engineer (2006) Sergei Sapogov – producer (2008) Artem Temnikov – director (2008) Denis Golikov (2009) Irina Privalova – operator, camerawoman (2008–2011) Grigoriy Rudko – operator (2008) Alexei Lapyshev – operator (2008) Ruslan Makletsov – lighting engineer (2013–PRESENT) Alexander Ivankov – sound engineer (2020–PRESENT) Alexander Radchenko – lighting engineer Igor Pravorotsky – legal support Ilya Atabekov – assistant tour manager

Discography

Studio albums Flamenco (2000) The Road to Baghdad (2002) Legend (2004) Cave Town of Inkerman (2006) Colorful Dreams (2006) Music of the Never-Shot Cinema (2007) Aroma (2010) Ornamental (2012) Aquamarine (with Chris Wonderful) (2017) The Seventh Sense (2019) 2021 (2021) Seasons (2025)

Live albums Live in Moscow (2006) Live in St. Petersburg (2009) Live in Kremlin (2013) Live with String Quartet (2022)

Compilations The Best: Satin Shores (2003) Grand Collection (2006) One Day Today (2013)

Singles

"Flamenco" (2000) "Isadora" (2000) "Rumba" (2000) "Spain" (2001) "Fandango" (2001) "Arabica" (2002) "Leila" (2002) "With the Flow" (2002) "The Road to Baghdad" (2003) "Flight to Mercury" (2003) "Satin Shores (feat. Dmitry Malikov)" (2003) "Legend" (2004) "Street Passions" (2004) "Autumn-August" (2004) "The Path Home" (2005) "Light Breeze" (2005) "Vinyl" (2005) "Cave Town of Inkerman" (2006) "Train to Barcelona" (2006) "In Exile" (2006) "Colorful Dreams" (2006) "Parcel from Romania" (2007) "Circle Dance" (2007) "Alegria" (2007) "Toro-ko-ko, pek-pek" (2008) "One Day in September" (2010) "At Dawn" (2010) "Farewell Surface!" (2010) "Chapiteau (feat. OTTA Orchestra)" (2011) "Greek (feat. OTTA Orchestra)" (2011) "Music of the Sun" (2011) "Serbian" (2012) "Hunting for a Wolf" (2013) "Dream" (2013) "Voice of the Spheres" (2013) "Lullaby" (2013) "Letter Without a Reply" (2013) "On the Other Side of the Rain" (2014) "Now You're Gone (feat. Max Lawrence)" (2014) "Silk Ribbon" with Chris Wonderful (2017) "White Month" with Chris Wonderful (2018) "Butterflies" (2019) "Kissed (feat. Buranovskiye Babushki)" (2019) "Butterfly Connoisseur" (2019) "I'll Be There" (2021) "Two Sisters" (2021) "Skladuk" / "Beach" (2023) "Ball" (2023) "Sea Caves (feat. Sergey Sorotin)" / "Galatea" (2023) "Fair" (2023) "In the Reflection" (2024) "Morning at Loch-Ness" (2024) "Path to the Light" (2024) "Sacred Beauty" (2025) "Worldly Candle" (2025) "Eyelashes of December" (2025) "Note of Hope" (2026)

Music videos "Flamenco" "Isadora" "Rumba" "Spain" "Arabica" "Leila" (feat. Avraam Russo) "Cave Town of Inkerman" "Train to Barcelona" "On the Threshold" "Cave Town of Inkerman (feat. Zoya Ledava)" "Chapiteau" "In the Reflection" "Path to the Light" "Note of Hope"

Production work Hommage to Cheslav Drozdievich by Denis Asimovich (2008) Prayer by Igor Dedusenko (2012)

Movies House of Fools (2002) The Road of Six Strings (2008) A Stoker (2010)