In 2010 violinist Carla Santos and pianist Saul Picado formed the Dryads Duo with the idea of exploring and bringing to the public lesser performed, but not less worthy of being presented, repertoire from the late 19th century to the present day.
In their recitals they aim to create a coherent combination between the less known and the standard repertoire providing the audience with a sense of ownership and freshness, always conveying their engaging sensibility, complicity and love for the music performed.
In 2011 the Dryads Duo was awarded the 1st prize at the “Prémio Jovens Músicos” competition in Portugal. This win gave them the opportunity to record their first CD (GDA) with Sonatas by Janáček, Ravel and Enescu.
In 2016 they released their second CD (KNS), entitled Intimate Colours. It is an important mark in the Duo’s career as it includes the piece that inspired the name for the Duo: “Dryads et Pan”. This is the name of Szymanowski’s third Myth, Op.30. Alongside these beautiful three Myths, the CD also includes Sonatas by Elgar and Respighi.
In 2017 the Dryads Duo developed a project called When Music Speaks, inviting five composers to write new pieces for the Duo. The idea was to create a dialogue between an already existing piece for violin and piano that each composer would choose as inspiration to write their own composition. One of these pieces, the Sonata by Pedro Faria Gomes, was recorded by the Duo and released in a CD (NAXOS) in 2020. For this CD, which features chamber music works by the same composer, Carla and Saul had the pleasure of also playing the violin and piano parts for the other works presented.
Based in the UK, the Dryads Duo has performed regularly in the UK and Portugal. They also had the opportunity to perform in France, Austria and Sweden.