XaSonaiP is piano and saxophone duo.
Founded in 2005 by the saxophonist Hélder Alves and the pianist Cândido Fernandes, it has developed a unique professional path outstanding for the originality of the repertoire presented in its concerts.
The musician of this formation studied in the Conservatório de Música do Porto under Francisco Ferreira and Manuela Costa and in the Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa under José Massarrão and Jorge Moyano. A new way of making and thinking about music has framed the activity of duo XaSonaiP since its creation.
Hélder Alves and Cândido Fernandes has been honored with numerous awards for their interpretations including 1st prize, level A at the International Competition "Vitor Santos" (saxophone), the 2nd prize ex-aequo at Estoril Interpretation Competition (saxophone) and the 3rd prize at both Fundão International Competition and at Ourém National Competiton (piano).
Recently, duo XaSonaiP won 1st prize at the "Prémio Jovens Músicos" in the category of Chamber Music - Superior Level. Due both to the success of its concert performances and to extremely positive reviews, many composers, including Sérgio Azevedo, Tiago Derriça, Benjamin Boone, Daniel Moreira, Gonçalo Gato and Carlos Filipe Cruz, have offered compositions to the duo XaSonaiP. They work regularly with Professor José Massarrão.