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Founded in 2006 by Jacques Hostettler & Nicolas Suter, Tchiki duo is considered today as the world leading Marimba duo.
Their artistic development, powered by their friendship, passion and sensitivity, brings them close to the greatest soloists, composers and pedagogues of the marimba, in particular Keiko Abe, Nebojsa J. Zivkovic, David Friedman, Peter Prommel and Gordon Stout, all them expecting Tchiki duo to make a major contribution to the development of the marimba duo.
Their outstanding sound and musicality rose them up to the recognition of renowned artists as pianists, singers, violinists or stage directors, all pointing out an astonishing artistic achievement. With two similar instruments, Tchiki duo impresses and transcends the audience by sounding as One, offering a unique duo performance included in the expression of a true art connected with its time.

Since 2008, the duo performs widely in Europe (Amsterdam, Berlin, Vienna, Rome, Ljubljana, Novi Sad, Tenerife,…) and in Asia (Tokyo, Nagoya, Shanghai, Taiwan,…). They take part in major concert venues and festivals around the world, among them the Percussion Arts Society International Convention (PASIC 2012) in Austin (USA), the International Percussion Festival Seoul (IPFS 2014), the Mariinsky Theater Concert Hall – St Petersburg in 2014 for a duo recital. At this occasion, Tchiki duo collaborated with the Mariinsky Theater for a new production of Rossini’s opera Il Barbiere di Sevilla including two marimbas on stage. It led to an invitation for a concert with the Keiko Abe Marimba Orchestra (KAMO) during the Mariinsky Theater Stars of the White Nights Festival 2016.  

Nicolas Suter & Jacques Hostettler play as soloists with orchestra and string camerata, performing their own works or works dedicated to them. The duo also composes the music for concert-shows they create. Their name comes from their very first appearance, a percussion-theater sketch called « Tchiki ».
The recording of two CDs (2009/2012) stirred up their passion for marimba sound and artistic happenings, pushing them to build up a rich experience through numerous artistic collaborations with composers, opera singers, classical & jazz musicians, choreographers, painters and stage directors.

Tchiki duo is regularly touring in Europe for lectures and masterclasses in music universities, among them the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, the Universität der Künste Berlin, the Musik und Kunst Universität Wien. In 2009 they were guest teachers for one semester at the Hochschule für Musik Detmold. Since 2012, both Swiss musicians teach at the Haute Ecole de Musique de Lausanne with Stéphane Borel. Tchiki duo was awarded Artist of the City in 2013.
Tchiki duo founded and leads the Keiko Abe Lausanne International Marimba Academy (KALIMA), taking place every two years since 2011, spreading Keiko Abe’s philosophy and gathering talented young marimbists together with young marimba teachers,  led by lecturers as theater stage director, piano and lyric art teachers.

Tchiki duo is Yamaha Artist & Innovative Percussion Endorser.