For Keiko Abe, a Japanese marimba player, it will be the first performance at the festival. She has long been a legend in percussion world, and her virtuosity has brought marimba to the world’s leading venues. According to a reviewer of Helsingin Sanomat, “as in performances by other great artists, the instrument seems to come alive at her touch”. Throughout her career, Keiko Abe has given several hundreds of recitals and concerts with orchestra, recorded 11 CDs. Her marimba has been heard at Carnegie Hall, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Berlin Philharmonie, and Vienna Konzerthaus. In 1993, Keiko Abe became the first woman to be inducted into the Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame. Ms Abe has authored over 70 works for marimba, that have become standards of this instrument’s repertoire. Keiko Abe – Yamaha Artist – plays instruments by Yamaha 6100.
Tchiki Duo of two marimbas, performing alongside Keiko Abe, was founded in 2006 by Lausanne Conservatory students Jacques Hostettler and Nicolas Suter. Both young musicians play in different ensembles, performing in Europe and Japan and enjoying support by famous percussionists, including Nebojša Živković. Tchiki Duo have recorded two CDs.
Jiun-Jie Jeng (marimba)
was born in Taipei in 1992 and has been studying percussion in Taiwan since he’s aged four. He started professional studies in Switzerland in 2014, with his professors Stéphane Borel, Jacques Hostettler, Nicolas Suter. He had the chance to benefit of the teaching of important musicians, such as Keiko Abe, Jean Geoffroy, Gordon Stout, Momoko Kamiya and Eric Sammut, by participating in their masterclasses in Taiwan, Japan, America and Switzerland. Most recently he was the winner of the International Marimba Competition in Bamberg, with the distinction of Kaatarzyna Mycka prize, and of the Swiss Competition for Drummer and Percussionists in the category of marimba.
