Beaufort County Community Orchestra will be welcoming a special guest for its spring concert on Friday night.

Brent Selby, a native of Bath, will perform with the all-volunteer orchestra in a free concert at the Turnage Theatre in Washington. Selby is the son of Jerol and Sonya Selby and got his musical start with the BCCO and Eastern Youth Orchestras, before attending the New England Conservatory. Since, he has made his home in Boston, where he is a cello faculty member of the Franklin String School and a member of the New England String Quartet.

Selby will be accompanying the orchestra and playing several solos during Friday’s performance, according to longtime BCCO violinist Ellen Ratcliffe. The program includes works by Haydn, Mozart, a selection of contemporary pieces, as well as “Concerto in La Maggiore,” by Antonio Vivaldi, in which BCCO conductor and violinist Chris Ellis will be featured.

Having a cellist of Selby’s caliber perform with orchestra is very special event, according to Arts of the Pamlico Executive Director Joey Toler.

“Part of our mission is to present community-based events, and we want the public to support that. And it’s free,” Toler said. “The fact that Brent is going to be joining them is a big plus. I remember him from the Eastern Youth Orchestras — he was a star back then.”

BCCO founder Doris Hamilton was well known for persuading local musicians to play with the orchestra, according to Ratcliffe, and Selby was no exception. Initially, Hamilton had a string quartet that would play various events, but over time the group grew as she pulled in musicians, and vocalists, for an annual performance of Handel’s “Messiah” at a small Terra Ceia church in one of the most rural parts of Beaufort County. From there the orchestra grew to include rehearsals at First Presbyterian Church, two performances a year — one in the spring; another during the holiday season — and standout musicians like Selby.

These days, BCCO is in search of more musicians to join the orchestra, as younger musicians often cycle out when they head off to college.

“We’re always looking for new players,” Ratcliffe said. “All violins are welcome.”

The encouragement of future musicians as a BCCO mission is apparent in another element of their concerts.

“Every time we have a concert, we have the Suzuki (method) children, and they do they’re little performance. … Everybody has to start somewhere,” Ratcliffe laughed.

Friday’s concert begins at 7 p.m. and is free and open to the public. The Turnage Theatre is located at 150 W. Main St., Washington.