Marko Churnchetz (Slovenian spelling Črnčec) is one of Slovenia’s most heralded contemporary musicians and renowned exports, based in New York City. On the international scene he is known as a formidable young multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger and producer who easily works across genres and in particular jazz, classical and popular music.

Churnchetz was born May 15, 1986 in Maribor, Slovenia and by the age of age six his musical path began by studying
 classical music on accordion and then piano at the age of ten. A prodigious talent, by his teens he was a multiple award-winner in both national and international competitions, and he earned a classical piano degree in 2005 as well as jazz piano degree at the University of Music and Dramatic Arts in Graz, Austria in 2009.

Churnchetz has released four albums as a leader. Signature and Moral Interchange (both released in 2010 on B.A.S.E.). His third album, Devotion (Whirlwind Recordings, 2014), featuring Mark Shim (saxophone), Chris Tordini (double bass) and Justin Brown (drums) was selected among 20 Best Jazz records of 2014 by All About Jazz.

Churnchetz’s forth album as a leader RUTHENIA (Fresh Sound, New Talent, 2017) featuring an outstanding jazz quartet with Mike Moreno on guitar, Chris Jennings on doublebass, Rudy Royston on drums and 11-piece chamber orchestra is a clear example of how many contemporary musicians are no longer concerned with genre boundaries. This album is a hommage to the greatest Russian Composers of the 20th Century: Dmitry Shostakovich, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Sergei Prokofiev, Alexandr Scriabin and Igor Stravinsky.

Marko has performed or recorded with the following notable artists: Seamus Blake, Rez Abbasi, Bob Mintzer, Joe Locke, Alex Sipiagin, John Ellis, Don Menza, Michael Phillip Mossman, Ron McClure, Luis Bonilla, Gary Chaffee, Mark Shim, Justin Brown, Marco Minnemann, Marcus Gilmore, Suresh Talwalkar, Chris Tordini, Chris Jennings, Damion Reid, Kenny Grohowski, Gwen Hughes, Stefan Milenkovich, Sharat Shrivastava, Gyan Syngh, Karlheinz Miklin and many others.

He has played on major festivals and clubs around the world: Brosella Jazz Festival, Havana Jazz Festival, Blue Note Jazz Club NYC, Jazz Standard NYC, Unterfahrt Jazz Club Munich, Porgy and Bess Vienna, Vienna Konzerthaus, Jazz Festival Sarajevo, Jazz Festival Belgrade, Jazz Festival Ljubljana, Tangente Jazz Club Liechenstein, Salsa Festival Barcelona, Ohrid Music Festival, Nishville Jazz Festival, Rovinj Salsa Festival, Dubrovnik Music Festival, Stockholm A-Capella Festival, Sava Centar Belgrade, Gramercy Theater NYC, Gregorys Jazz Club Rome, Sunside Sunset Paris, and many others…