WORLD · MUSIC · LANGUAGES · ONE LOVE

Marko Valentino

Music has been part of my life since childhood. I learned to play the piano and later sang as a member of the Hungarian Radio Children’s Choir, where I also performed as a soloist. Even then, I experienced how music can connect people who come from different places.

I grew up as an only child, and perhaps that is one reason I have always been especially curious about other people, languages and cultures. Learning languages soon became one of my greatest passions. In addition to English, I learned Spanish and Turkish, and through different languages more and more cultures and musical worlds opened up to me.

Over the years, I have lived and worked in the Dominican Republic, Turkey, Gran Canaria and Spain. The Dominican Republic holds a particularly important place in my life, where I experienced Caribbean life and Latin culture first-hand. There, music and rhythm are not simply entertainment: they are a natural part of everyday life. This experience still influences how I see music and the meeting of different cultures.

Travel and my experiences abroad have reinforced my belief that the world is far more interesting when we focus not on differences, but on what connects us. Living in other countries was never simply travel for me; it was an opportunity to get to know the people, their languages, customs and, of course, their music more closely.

I have been collecting music from different parts of the world since the early 2000s. I am especially drawn to Oriental, Balkan, Latin, Folk, Pop, House, Afrobeats and Afro House music.

For me, the value of a song is not determined by the country it comes from or the language in which it is sung. What matters is whether it can convey emotion. A great melody does not require a shared mother tongue.

Marko Valentino is therefore more than a stage name to me. It expresses a musical world in which different countries, languages, rhythms and cultures can meet — without borders.

WORLD · MUSIC · LANGUAGES · ONE LOVE