THE passion for big band music is alive and thriving among a whole new generation of young musicians.

And some of the best talent in town will be strutting its stuff at a concert in Huddersfield next week.

Huddersfield University Big Band’s concerts at the Lawrence Batley Theatre have become big box office hits.

For the past four years, the band has packed the theatre with its very own blend of big band classics old and new. Next Friday, February 19, they aim to make that five winners in a row with a show that starts at 7.30pm.

Championing the big band cause are university lecturer Sean Miller, who is the Big Band’s musical director, and two of its current players, Chris Jolly, 23, and Rick Sellars, 21.

Both had to audition for their places like all the musicians in the ensemble and both are vocal in their support of a style of music for which all the band shares a passion. It seems that making that connection with the music is one of the keys to getting a place in the band.

“The auditions are really to see if they are into the style of music or not,’’ said Sean. “So much of the music is not on the page so you can tell really quickly whether they like the music and can get into it or not.”

Rick, who is in his third year of a music degree and wants to combine a career as a musician with peripatetic teaching, agrees.

“I think it’s about what sort of music you are exposed to,’’ he said. “Before I came to university I was playing in big bands and so I had some experience of it.”

For Chris, too, playing and listening to particular styles of music are closely connected. Chris, who is from Manchester and in the second year of a master’s degree at Huddersfield, said: “It’s music that I enjoy playing and that I enjoy listening to. If you are in any sort of ensemble playing a particular style of music you would want to listen to that kind of music.”

Sean compares it to trying to learn a new language without hearing the accent.

“The music on the page doesn’t tell you the accent,’’ he said. “You can’t learn an accent unless you listen to it. The best bands are those who embrace the music.”

There will be no mistaking the accent of these musicians when they fill the LBT with familiar big band pieces. They will also feature the music of one of the great big band arrangers and composers, Sammy Nestico, who worked for, among others, Count Basie, Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughan and Phil Collins.

Expect to hear Come Fly With Me, I’ve Got You Under My Skin and Sweet Georgia Brown.

The programme will also showcase Chris playing tenor saxophone solo in Bob Florence’s arrangement of I’ll Remember, while Rick is the featured trumpet player in the Rodgers and Hart song I Could Write A Book.

The band has a democratic approach when it comes to choosing what to play.

“I get a lot of stuff together and we play it and see what people think,” said Sean.

Chris said: “We decide then as a group what we want to do and what we want to play.”

Rick said: “The Big Band has a different feel about it. People look forward to going to rehearsals.”

Commitment to the band is clearly strong.

“You have to audition for your seat in the band and so you have to earn your seat,” said Rick.

And once in the band, the camaraderie and the magic of the music binds the musicians together – so much so that they aim to take the sound of Huddersfield University Big Band on tour.

“I’ve always said that I’d like to go on tour with the band and no-one has ever taken me up on it,’’ said Sean. “This year someone did.”

That someone is Rick who is working hard to get the 20 band members on a coach and heading for Lille this summer.

“We aim to do three gigs there in three nights,’’ he said. “We aim to be the first university ensemble from Huddersfield which has done this.”

Before that there is a concert on campus in April and, of course, next week’s gig at the LBT.

Tickets for that are available on 01484 430528 and there is a student concessionary price.