Hull is the UK City of Culture, it's sometimes called the City of Poetry and it's certainly a big city for music….

The endless supply line of groups from the Hull area, the individuals, the Spiders from Mars… you could go on.

Sold-out venues… audiences are piling into this City of Culture year.

And the choice is massive, from the popular to the profound, such as North Atlantic Flux at three venues over four days from April 28 (last batch of tickets for March release £119).

It's boom time for the big orchestras.

After the Royal Philharmonic selling out for John Williams, there'll be another full house for our own Hull Philharmonic Orchestra's concert on February 25 featuring the first performance of 6000 Pipes! by Sir Karl Jenkins, the world's most popular living composer.

Sir Karl's first visit was around 40 years ago with the progressive jazz and rock group Soft Machine and, perhaps, his story is that we should avoid being stuck in a groove and be prepared to experience something different.

Then there's Hull born and bred Ethel Liggins, a classical pianist and the first woman to conduct many of the world's leading orchestras, whose life is being celebrated at the City Hall in March.

She died as Ethel Leginska in Los Angeles in 1970, where she added the Hollywood Bowl to her list of top performance venues. A true Hull pioneer.