Guitarist Marko Topchii featured on ‘Arizona Encore♪’

Guitarist Marko Topchii visited Arizona State University in January of 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.

Central Sound at Arizona PBS sat down with Topchii to speak with him about his experiences as a competitor and about his resolve to be a representative for Ukraine.

“Arizona Horizon” debuted the presentation of this special interview with Marko Topchii, featuring the way he uses music to represent his culture and his country. Watch the interview above, then catch “Arizona Encore♪” every Tuesday evening at 7 p.m., on KBACH, KNAU and DTV-8.5 as they showcase Arizona’s premier performances. This Tuesday, Sept. 30, “Arizona Encore♪” will feature both music and conversation with Marko Topchii.

Topchii not only ensures he represents his country, but also honors his mother, from whom he plays a lot of her musical compositions.

“It’s my vital need to work on music like that, to work on Ukraine music,” Topchii said. “Expand the legacy of the culture. Every time I perform the piece I feel like I’m transferring this energy of love to my mother.”

For Topchii showing pride for Ukraine is more important now than ever. When the first rockets hit his city in the capitol of Ukraine, Kyiv, there was so much panic about what was next for him, his family and his community.

“You don’t know if Ukraine will be actually captured altogether, and people will repressed for example for who they are,” Topchii said. “It could have been easily possible had not the Ukrainians decided to defend themselves.”

Topchii has made an effort to take the time to communicate with people about how the invasion has impacted his life in settings ranging from after his concerts to on social media. According to Topchii, it is easy for people to not pay attention when conflict is not happening at home, but he is working to bridge the gap of awareness internationally.