A concert of fin de siècle French music and a new Australian commission is sure to make an Impression.

On Sunday 5 March, the Canberra Symphony Orchestra (CSO) presents Watercolours at Albert Hall, the opening concert in the popular Chamber Classics matinee series. Programmed by Jessica Cottis, chief conductor and artistic director, Watercolours features beautiful violin sonatas by Debussy and Fauré, performed by CSO concertmaster Kirsten Williams and pianist Edward Neeman.

Soprano Chloe Lankshear – featured in the CSO’s 2022 Messiah concerts – takes the stage for Debussy’s Ariettes oubliées and the ‘lover’s dialogue’ from Fêtes galantes, both settings of the French poet Verlaine.

“Debussy paints the symbolic text perfectly,” Lankshear said. “He just whisks you away on a wonderful daydream of obscurities both joyful and tragic.”

Watercolours also features a new commission: white flowers, by fast-rising Australian composer Connor D’Netto. He also draws inspiration from the written word, setting meditations of the British horticulturalist Gertrude Jekyll to music for voice, violin and piano.

Based in Brisbane, D’Netto will make his first trip to Canberra to hear the premiere.

“It’s a mystery that I’ve somehow not been on Ngunnawal country before!” he said. “I am really looking forward to being in Canberra to work with Chloe, Kirsten, and Edward on my new piece.”

Chamber Classics: Watercolours. 2pm, Sunday 5 March. Tickets $35–49. Book online at cso.org.au/watercolours or call 02 6262 6772 (weekdays 10am–3pm). Youth and concession pricing available.