Come and see the work of some of our members at the Ross Library until May 13 at the arts and crafts exhibition.

There are examples of different styles of artwork, oils, watercolours, ink, pastels and pencil, all done by members of our U3A from the art and calligraphy group.

The craft group is exhibiting textiles, knitting, embroidery, tapestry, beadwork, cards and lots of other handicrafts. Model-making encompasses the world in miniature with trains, boats, planes and dioramas of houses and townscapes. These are individual projects by members; their group project of a model railway in a quarry is too big to be shown this time. The world of photography is only bounded by time and energy – and there are many themes on display.

We all enjoyed an unusual talk at our April general meeting as we were treated to some singing too. Mr Jeff Woods was telling us about comic characters in opera and he started by singing a piece from the Magic Flute by Mozart – the character Papageno singing about catching birds. When dressed for the opera, Papageno is costumed in bird-like clothing, and Jeff had a very fetching duck shower cap with a soft toy duck stuck on the top! Having proven his singing skills, Jeff went on to tell us about Mozart’s life and works. We then listened to Bryn Terfel performing in the Marriage of Figaro.

From Mozart we went to Rossini, a prodigious composer of opera, producing some 18 works by the time he was 38 years old. We were treated to the singing of Laurence Tibbet in The Barber of Seville, set in a time when the barber was also the local surgeon.

Mario Lanza, better known for his film roles, epitomised the tragic element of comedy in Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci, a story about a harlequin and his columbine, which all ends in tears.

The afternoon was rounded off by a brief trip into Gilbert and Sullivan, and Jeff treated us to a serenade of A Little Tom Tit from the Mikado – complete with a very fetching Japanese-style hat.

Our next meeting is on Monday, May 19, at 2.30pm, when we shall be listening to three speakers telling us about their work in Ross. Representatives of Age Concern, Shopmobility and WRVS will let us know how we can all benefit from their efforts. If you would like to join us, why not ring 567789 or 562884 about membership, or just come along to our meeting at the Larruperz Centre where you will be made very welcome. Our U3A is aimed at adults in their ‘third age’ (after the stage of bringing up children) who love to learn, and who no longer work full-time. There is no minimum or maximum age limit. If you are interested in joining, there will be information to take away, and we are also now on the web at rossu3a.org.uk