Marko Churnchetz (Slovenian spelling Črnčec) is one of Slovenia’s most heralded contemporary musicians and renowned exports. On the international scene he is known as a formidable pianist, 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 seven albums in his career as a leader. His third highly critically acclaimed album Devotion (Whirlwind Recordings, 2014), featuring Mark Shim (saxophone), Chris Tordini (double bass) and Justin Brown (drums) was selected among 20 Best Jazz releases of 2014 by one of the biggest jazz publications in the world 

„All About Jazz“! That put him on the world map of recognised jazz artists, such as Brian Blade, Tigran Hamasyan, Ambrose Akinmusire, Jason Moran and others….

He is also a member of the Jonathan Kreisberg Quartet since 2020, one of the most renowned jazz guitarists of today, touring all over the world (San Francisco Jazz, TIJC Bangkok Conference, Kuumbwa Jazz Festival, Pizza Express London Jazz Club, Porgy and Bess,…).

Churnchetz has performed and recorded with these notable artists:
Billy Hart, Jonathan Kreisberg, Seamus Blake, Rez Abbasi, Joe Locke, Mike Moreno, Eric Harland, Wayne Escoferry, Melissa Aldana, Damion Reid, Mark Shim, Justin Brown, Marcus Gilmore, Rudy Royston, Suresh Talwalkar, Jonathan Powell, Joe Sanders, Jonathan Hoard, Gwen Hughes, Stefan Milenkovich and many others.

He has performed on festivals and other renowned venues, such as:
TIJC Festival Bangkok, Brosella Jazz Festival, Havana Jazz Festival, Blue Note Jazz Club NYC, Blue Note Nagoya, Jazz Standard NYC, Jazz Gallery NYC, Unterfahrt Jazz Club Munich, Porgy and Bess Vienna, Vienna Konzerhaus, Jazz Festival Sarajevo, Jazz Festival Beograd, Jazz Festival Ljubljana, Salsa Festival Barcelona, Ohrid Music Festival, Nishville Jazz Festival, Rovinj Salsa Festival, Dubrovnik Music Festival, Stockholm A-Capella Festival, Sava Center Beograd, Gramercy Theater NYC, Bimhuis Amsterdam, Gregorys Jazz Club Rome, Sunside Sunset Paris, Blue Whale Jazz Club Los Angeles and many others.

With his new trio, featuring the amazing Philipp Zarfl on doublebass and Kristijan Krajnčan on drums, they are presenting their new album „Without Words (ZKPRTV, 2024) in which Churnchetz pays a truibite to the legendary Slovenian composer Mojmir Sepe. This release received domestic and international critical praise.