Organist Joan Martin closed out the Reid Center LIVE! at Noon series on May 15. The series featured local musicians from September through November 2023. It returned for February till May this year. Concerts were on the first and third Wednesdays at noon, and this is the second full year since the church’s reopening as a community center.
In the last session of this season, Martin played seven songs including “Lord of the Dance,” arranged by John A. Behnke, and “Liturgical Dancers” and “Litanies” by Jehan Alain, which she said is her favorite out of the songs she played at the concert. Martin served as organist of Reid Memorial Presbyterian Church from January 1971 until November 2017, when the church closed.
Frederick Chatfield, who plays organ occasionally at Reid Center, said that the center has served as a “culture hub” in the community beyond its use for recitals. As a historic church, it is difficult to have the support, and board member Ray Ontko said that he hopes this series “helped bring attention to the special place.” The series will begin again next year.
A version of this article appeared in the June 5 2024 print edition of the Western Wayne News.