A member of the Halle Orchestra, viola player Piero Gasparini, gave a superb presentation to the meeting on April 8th, 2013, when other U3A members joined to make an audience of about forty people. Mr Gasparini described his early training, entry into the orchestral world, and his life as a member of Britain’s oldest orchestra. He explained the construction and features of the viola with plenty of demonstrations.

What made his presentation outstanding was his down-to-earth approach and sense of humour. He told jokes made against viola players by other musicians, explained the things that can go wrong during performances, and revealed the occasional prank indulged in by the players. One that appealed particularly to his U3A audience was about a modern young composer rehearsing his latest work and required the viola players to make what Piero described as 'squeaky gate music'. He decided to do something better and played the Muppets’ theme tune. To his surprise, the composer said that was exactly what he had wanted!

On a totally serious note, Mr Gasparini’s presentation concluded with a performance of the Allemande, transcribed from Bach’s Cello Suite No 3. The afternoon was undoubtedly the star event for the 'Classical Music 2' group since it started in January last year.