If aural treats get you all of a dither, then Harrogate Theatres has got a February jam-packed with enough music-based entertainment to make your head spin.

New Yorker Preston Reed may well be from another planet – his hands have an otherworldly co-ordination and the way he plucks, strums and coaxes sounds from his guitar has to be seen and heard to be believed. See it, hear it and possibly still not believe it at Harrogate Theatre on Friday 1 February.

Brassy behemoths BBC Big Band drop into the Royal Hall on Saturday 2 February with a whistle-stop tour of the genre’s legendary leading ladies in Big Band Divas featuring award-winning jazz singer Claire Martin. Tipping their collective hat to Billie Holiday, Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald and Judy Garland, among others, this celebration of a bygone big band era is a guaranteed feel-good hit.

The Military Wives Choir, comprising the plucky wives and girlfriends of British Military personnel getting their hits out for the lads, raises the Royal Hall roof on Saturday 9 February and things take an even more romantic turn on Valentine’s Day (Thursday 14 February) when the Grand Opera Of Belarus present Puccini’s heart-breaking love story, La Bohème at the Royal Hall.

The songs of the late, great Woody Guthrie, who gave voice to the struggles of the common man, are used to tell the American dustbowl troubadour’s own story in Woody Sez (Harrogate Theatre, Monday 11 to Wednesday 13 February). This beautiful and inspirational biopic, presented by multi-talented folk musicians melds Guthrie’s songs with excerpts from newspaper articles he penned for The People’s World.

Music also takes a central role in The Lock In, the new name for an updated version of the critically acclaimed Time Gentlemen Please. This hip-hop extravaganza from folk heroes The Demon Barbers, which lands at Harrogate Theatre on Monday 18 and Tuesday 19 February, features morris dancing and B-boys, clog girls and sword dancers and is not to be missed.

British jazz luminary Courtney Pine offers music with a truly multi-cultural feel, blending merengue, ska, mento and calypso with Pine’s trademark saxophone. At his Harrogate Theatre performance on Friday 22 February, Pine will be playing tunes from his 15th studio album, House Of Legends, an LP that features his soprano sax for the first time.

Tickets for these events can be booked securely online at www.harrogatetheatre.co.uk or through the Harrogate Theatre Box Office on 01423 502116.

Show: Preston Reed

Date: Friday 1 February

Venue: Harrogate Theatre

Time: 7.30pm

Price: £15

Show: BBC Big Band Divas

Date: Saturday 2 February

Venue: Royal Hall

Time: 7.30pm

Price: £19 and £24

Show: The Military Wives

Date: Saturday 9 February

Venue: Royal Hall

Time: 7.30pm

Price: £19 and £24

Show: Woody Sez

Date: Monday 11 to Wednesday 13 February

Venue: Harrogate Theatre

Time: 7.30pm

Price: £12 to £16

Show: La Boheme

Date: Thursday 14 February

Venue: Royal Hall

Time: 7.30pm

Price: £25 and £29

Show: The Lock In

Date: Monday 18 and Tuesday 19 February

Venue: Harrogate Theatre

Time: 7.30pm

Price: £16.50

Show: Courtney Pine

Date: Friday 22 February

Venue: Harrogate Studio Theatre

Time: 7.45pm

Price: £12

By Andy on January 29, 2013