**UPDATE** This article was previously published listing the first concert as Sunday, Oct. 6. The concert is on Sunday, Oct. 13. 

Washington’s First Presbyterian Church turned 190 years old and the public is invited to help celebrate the anniversary through a series of concerts to be held this church year.The first concert will be at 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 13, in the church sanctuary: an organ concert by Andrew Scanlon, director of organ and sacred music at East Carolina University and organist of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Greenville.

“We have out of town performers often, but getting people who are somewhat local, we don’t do that so often,” said Mike Morgan, First Presbyterian’s music director. “But it’s nice to have a member of the ECU faculty perform when there are so many people in the area that have attended the university.”

While Scanlon may be somewhat local, his musical resume comes from far and wide: he’s performed at national conventions of the American Guild of Organists (AGO), the Organ Historical Society, as well as throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. Scanlon has performed in some of the world’s most significant religious venues including The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, National City Christian Church in Washington, D.C., The Cathedral of St. Philip in Atlanta, St. James’ Cathedral and Yorkminster Park Church in Toronto, Saint Paul’s Within the Walls in Rome, Notre-Dame Cathedral, The American Cathedral and La Trinité in Paris and other venues in England, Italy, Germany, Canada and Croatia.

Morgan said Scanlon’s hour-long concert is free and open to the public, as are the other concerts he’s lined up.

Nov. 4 is the date of the second concert: pianist Kathleen Warner and her percussionist husband Harvey Warner. Kathleen Warner is the daughter of First Presbyterian church member Dr. Bob Sandy and grew up in Washington. The Warners now live in Atlanta, Kathleen regularly plays with the Atlanta Opera, while Harvey performs with Atlanta Symphony, according to Morgan.

On Dec. 21, a local favorite, Market Street Brass, will return for a Christmas concert. While group of five brass players from Greensboro has been a feature of the church’s Christmas celebrations for many years, last year the group was noticeably missed due the illness of its leader, and trumpet player, Dr. Edward Bach. Fully recovered, Market Street Brass will return for a concert of both secular and sacred music, according to Morgan.

“They’ll play the more traditional carols and then they’ll have more popular songs, both,” Morgan said. “That’s a concert that’s always very well attended and it appeals to all age groups.”

Right now, a fourth, spring concert is in the works to wrap up the church’s 190^th birthday year, Morgan said.

“One hundred and ninety — that’s pretty remarkable,” Morgan noted. “There’re very few churches that see that milestone. … But out of the downtown five, there are three or four of us that are approaching 200 years old.”

First Presbyterian Church of Washington’s sanctuary entrance is located on Gladden Street between Main and Second streets in Washington.