Matthew Kneale is described in his publicity material as "a rock-star bassoonist". What does this mean, exactly? Does he smash his instrument on the stage at every performance?

Apparently not. Kneale says, "It's something about the way I play the instrument- I play it in a really physical way."

If you're curious about what that means, Kneale is one of three soloists in the final instalment of the Canberra Symphony Orchestra's Australia Series curated by Matthew Hindson. Triple Concerto is for those who like variety and hearing something new. It features bassoon, harp and clarinet soloists each playing a piece written for them.

The 2018 work for harp and string quartet is by Stuart Greenbaum for soloist Meriel Owen. Like that piece, Holly Harrison's new work for bassoon and string quartet was commissioned by the CSO. The third piece is Cyrus Meurant's 2017 concertino for clarinet and string quintet, for soloist David Rowden.

Accompanying them all will be the Omega Ensemble (Veronique Serret and Airena Nakamura, violins; Neil Thompson, viola and Paul Stender, cello).

There is also the opportunity to have an out-of-hours look at the exhibition 20/20, new portraits commissioned to celebrate the National Portrait Gallery’s 20th year. There are pictures of the head coach of the Australian rugby league team and former player Mal Meninga, neurotechnology innovator and Young Australian of the Year 1998 Tan Le and many others.

Kneale says this experience should be more fun for audiences than the more formal, distanced classical music recitals.

"It's a very interesting thing that's happened," he says. Kneale is a member of wind quintet Arcadia Winds. They performed at the gallery in last year's CSO Australian Series, Companion Pieces, also presenting new music.

He first played Harrison's piece, Airbender, with the Omega Quartet in Sydney and says it's a quirky and very challenging work but that that is very exciting.

"It's interesting for the audience to hear all these different colours and sounds."

This is the 30-year-old Melburian's fifth time performing in Canberra. He started his musical education with the piano at age five and took up bassoon when he was 11.

He continued with bassoon and studied at the Victorian College of the Arts and the Queensland Conservatorium of Music as well as post-degree performance training.

Arcadia Winds was formed in 2013 and was award a fellowship at the Australian National Academy of Music. They became they became Musica Viva Australia’s inaugural FutureMakers musicians from 2015–17.

Kneale plays casually with several Australian orchestras including the Melbourne and Darwin Symphony Orchestras and Orchestra Victoria.

In late 2017 he became the bassoonist to be awarded the $20,000 Freedman Classical Fellowship which will allow him to undertake an international concert tour of the US and Europe next year. He will perform Harrison's piece and other music by young Australian composers.

He was married in July and says, "It can be tough" given the travelling and separation involved. But his wife should understand.

"I'm married to a cellist, Emma - I met her at the Queensland Conservatorium in 2010."