SHAPE

SHAPE is an Argentine-Czech duo composed by pianist Martina Copello and percussionist Kristýna Švihálková. The project grew out of a shared passion for interdisciplinary artistic practices, the meeting of movement and sound, and a desire to explore new possibilities for the concert experience.

At the heart of SHAPE is an interest in the body on stage: how it moves, how it shapes sound, and how the physical space between performers, instruments, and audience can become part of the music. Through collaborations with visual artists, musicians, and composers, SHAPE creates performances in which music, physical gesture, and the forms that emerge on stage become inseparable. Their repertoire brings together works by composers such as Sara Nemtsov, Jesse Marino, Vinko Globokar, and Georges Aperghis, alongside original pieces developed through collaborations with composers who write specifically for the duo.

Both artists explore the possibilities of their instruments beyond their conventional roles, working with extended techniques, their own bodies, and different versions and configurations of their instruments: from different types of keyboards and toy pianos to a wide range of percussion instruments and objects. These variations open up new colours, gestures, and physical relationships with sound, allowing the instruments themselves to become part of the visual and spatial language of the performance.

Commitment and heart are at the center of SHAPE’s dynamic. The duo brings an electric, physical presence to the stage, reflected both in their performance and in the way they curate their programmes, often embracing demanding, energetic, and deeply embodied works. For SHAPE, the concert is not simply a place to listen, but a place to see, feel, move, and discover how sound takes form