Marko Topchii

Sept. 26

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Guitarist Marko Topchii, the 2023 winner of the Guitar Foundation of America’s International Concert Artists Competition, visited Arizona State University in January 2025 as part of a concert tour. Born into a musical family in Ukraine in 1991, Topchii has earned more than a hundred awards worldwide, including over 50 first prizes in prestigious competitions from Spain to Japan to New York. This edition of Arizona Encore features both music and conversation, as Topchii shares his approach to competitions and reflects on what it means to represent Ukraine on the world stage.

Selections from his ASU Organ Hall recital include French repertoire by Arnaud Dumond, Maurice Ravel, and Francis Poulenc, as well as Bach’s Partita No. 2 in C minor. The program closes with a personal performance of a Prelude by the guitarist’s mother, Ukrainian composer Nataliia Topchii.

This broadcast also features the ASU Herberger String Quartet in Ravel’s String Quartet in F Major, and the Phoenix Chorale under Tom Peterson in Debussy’s Trois Chansons de Charles d’Orléans, with soloists Danya Tiller, Holly Sheppard, Jacob Verhine, and Toby Vaughn Kidd.

Featured in this episode:

Dumond – Comme un Hommage a Ravel – Marko Topchii, guitar

Ravel – Sonatine – Marko Topchii, guitar

Poulenc – Sarabande – Marko Topchii, guitar

Ravel – String Quartet in F Major – ASU Herberger String Quartet

I. Allegro moderato – tres doux

Debussy – Trois Chansons de Charles d’Orleans – Phoenix Chorale; Tom Peterson, conductor; Holly Sheppard, mezzo-soprano; Jacob Verhine, tenor; Toby Vaughn Kidd, bass