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.

Alain Maratrat is an French Actor and Theater director.
After He attended the Institute National des Arts du Spectacle in Brussels, Belgium from 1969-1973
He has performed in films and plays directed by e.g. Claude Berri, and Peter Brook.
He began his career as an opera director in 1981 with The Love of Three Oranges by Prokofiev.
In 2004, Maratrat directed Rosinni's Il Viaggio a Reimsa at the Theatre du Chatelet, which was co-producing with maestro Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Theater. With Gergiev's blessing, Maratrat immediately began In depth work with the Mariinsky Theater. In 2005, Maratrat was awarded two Golden Masks and a Golden Sofit. Maratrat's relationship with the Mariinsky Theater continued with a new version of The Love for Three Oranges in 2007 and a 360 degree staging of Mozart' s Magic Flute (2008), which has been performed more than 150 times at the world-famous opera house.
Throughout his life, Maratrat has explored the relationship between the body and acting. he studied numerous sort of tradiotional art of body moving, e.g. T'ai chi ch'uan, Kung-fu, Sumatran Dance, and Alexander Technique. Maratrat regularly shares the results his experience with acting students though master classes, workshops and acting classes, influencing a new generation of actors, singers and dancers around the world.