Joe Chialo, 52, is probably the most unusual figure in the new Berlin Senate made up of CDU and SPD. Chialo greets the interviewers in a blue shirt over black trousers and wears white sneakers on his feet. Chialo avoids the “you,” saying “you” and “your” instead. From time to time, he himself notices that his language is teeming with Anglicisms. It’s the kind of language and mannerisms that one knows from the music industry and from which it originates. After a short career as a singer, Chialo switched to music management. In 2009 he founded his first label and marketed the band among others Santiano and the KellyFamily. In 2016, the devout Catholic Chialo joined the Berlin CDU because of Angela Merkel’s refugee policy, but failed to run for the Bundestag. Chialo is a member of the CDU federal executive board and has been Berlin’s Senator for Culture and Social Cohesion for six weeks.
Joe Chialo: “There has to be a little more ambition and excellence” – Kultur
