Marko Genero was born in Dubrovnik into a family of musicians. He started learning the violin at the Luka Sorkočević Music School in Dubrovnik with Žarko Grego, and switched to the viola at the Academy of Music in Zagreb, where he studied with Stefano Passaggio. At the age of 22, right after graduation, he first became an assistant, and then the youngest assistant professor at the Zagreb Academy of Music. At that time, he joined the renowned Zagreb Soloists and performed with them all over the world, often as a soloist. For family reasons, he left Croatia and settled permanently in Germany, where he continued his musical education. He studied with the solo violist of the Berlin Philharmonic, Wilfried Strehle, and the French violist Serge Collot, and in 2001 received his Master’s degree from the Folkwang Hochschule in Essen, where he studied under Vladimir Mendelssohn. He won numerous awards, including first prizes at the Nigun International Competition in Duisburg, the Jean Rogister International Competition in Belgium and in Essen (the Folkwang Prize). He was a soloist with the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra. Since 1999, he has served as the principal solo violist of the Bochum Symphony Orchestra. He was invited to perform as a soloist with numerous renowned orchestras, including the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, the WDR Orchester Köln, the Hessisches Rundfunkorchester Frankfurt and the Antwerp Royal Philharmonic. As a chamber musician, he regularly collaborates with Miha Pogačnik, Maria Graf, Irena Grafenauer, Steven Bishop-Kovacevich, Adrian Brendel, Alexander Sitkowetsky, Vladimir Mendelssohn, the Minguet Quartet, the Sebastian String Quartet, the Signum Quartet, and the Morgenstern Trio. He has a special relationship with the Bermuda4 String Quartet, where he was a member for ten years. Alongside his career in Germany, he served as a professor of chamber music at the Zagreb Academy of Music from 2015 to 2018. He has been professor of viola at the renowned Robert Schumann Musikhochschule Düsseldorf from 2024. He recorded for Naxos, Laska Records and Croatia Records. Marko Genero plays a Nicolo Amati viola made in 1721.
