Music Director Grant Edwards is a fourth-generation Oregonian who at age four refused to go downstairs to Sunday School because then he would miss out on all the hymn singing. His Christian faith was sparked when he heard Handel’s Messiah for the very first time at age 12, and instantly believed every word of it. Two years later, he became a professional church organist. He has served First Congregational UCC since June 1995, in a service celebrating the centennial of the historic edifice. Passionate about music from the gamut of eras and cultures, he loves being in a community where he can freely explore and transcend the boundaries of ‘sacred music’ while simultaneously reveling in time-honored traditions. He holds a Master’s Degree in Choral Conducting from Portland State University, a B.A. in Organ Performance from  Lewis and Clark College, and also studied at Willamette University and Ludwig-Maximillians Universität in Munich. Grant also serves as Tonal Director of Bond Organ Builders, and is responsible for the creation of First Congregational’s 55-rank pipe organ. He has an unreasonable affection for poetry, linguistics, and the New York Times crossword—as well as singing. He has been a member of several highly respected vocal ensembles, including Portland State Chamber Choir, Cantores in Ecclesia, and Portland Gay Men’s Chorus, for whom he has been a commissioned composer. In 2018 he toured eastern Germany as a soloist in Portland’s Bach Cantata Choir, singing in all the major churches of J. S. Bach’s career. His vocal compositions are heard regularly during worship at First Congregational, and in 2019 he conducted the premiere of his 90-minute oratorio, Letters from Emily, setting 27 Dickinson poems in a sacred operatic narrative.