IF YOU are a fan of Michael Jackson’s music then there’s a concert coming to Huddersfield that you won’t want to miss.

But even more of a Thriller is the band which will be centre stage in Forever Michael, the gig that hits Huddersfield Town Hall next Thursday, that’s October 25.

For the five piece Young Thriller Band at the heart of the show is led by Huddersfield’s Harry Meredith and is packed with other young musicians who share his super charged musical talents.

Given Harry’s musical background, his mum Lynn Hudson is conductor of Halifax Young Singers while dad Thom Meredith is principal of Kirklees Music School and musical director of Colne Valley Male Voice Choir, it was perhaps inevitable that Harry would forge a career in music. And at 21, he’s already doing just that.

He has just finished at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester where he received a scholarship to study percussion.

Harry now lives in the city with his girlfriend Ellie Pike, who also studied at the Royal Northern and is the saxophonist and vocalist in the Young Thriller band.

Harry and Ellie are already well known to Huddersfield audiences. Both have sung at recent concerts and Harry has appeared on many other occasions playing percussion.

He’s proving himself a versatile and imaginative musician playing both classical and popular music.

Harry has recorded and performed with the RNCM’s Big Band, Symphony Orchestra, Wind Orchestra and Brass Band, played with renowned artists such as Guy Barker and Rob Buckland, performed with the Halle Orchestra and plays regularly with the Leeds Sinfonia.

"It’s nice to be able to have a variety, playing Michael Jackson songs one night, then go off and do some teaching, then play something completely different."

Check out his website for a taste of his drumming and percussion skills. It’s what led to his current role with the Forever Michael tour.

And what started out in April as a three date in Scotland for Harry as a drummer – "I had to learn 24 songs in about three days" – swiftly turned into a much bigger job.

Harry agreed to find an entire band and took on the job as both drummer and musical director.

He recruited Ellie, Jake Brown on bass and bass synth, Matt Wilmot on keyboards and Will Tait on guitars. All studied at the Royal Northern.

"We’ve been working on the show together ever since," said Harry.

"We go all over the country and there are dates booked through until spring."

"We’ve done Devon, Essex and gigs right up to Scotland. Everyone gets on very well and they are all brilliant musicians. It’s really nice. We have a great laugh."

Ellie has a similarly busy and diverse musical life. She teaches and is much in demand as part of a classical saxophone quartet that is when she is not playing Michael Jackson songs.

For Jake, next week’s Town Hall concert is also a home town gig. He’s from Bradley though he is now based in Manchester.

Jake is a versatile bassist with extensive experience in electric, synth and double bass.

He is a freelance professional player with over 10 years’ experience in both live, studio and theatre work.

Matt Wilmot is the band’s keyboards player. Born in Nottingham, he has been playing keyboards since the age of eight and writing and performing live from the age of 12 with a wide variety of recorded and live acts.

Will Tait first picked up the electric guitar aged nine taking lessons where he grew up in Nottingham. His passion for the instrument soon showed him that the only way he would ever want to make a living was through music and that’s exactly what he’s doing.

The show is fronted by Tej’ai Sullivan as Michael Jackson but it’s guaranteed that much of the attention of the home town crowd next week will be focused on the Young Thriller Band.

And these young musicians will be showing their support for other young people in the town. They’ve organised a bucket collection at the event for the Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice.

The concert starts at 7.30pm and tickets are available from Kirklees box offices on 01484 223200.