GROVE CITY — Celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, the Bach Society is continuing to share “the love of music.”

“There is nothing I’ve loved better,” said the choral group’s president Dianne Gordon. “It is really my greatest joy.”

Gordon said the society performs four concerts per year, two in the spring and two in winter.

The organization was formed in 1984. It was inactive for several years, but was revitalized when Grove City College Professor Richard Konzen became the director. It has had a few more directors since then and has remained active.

The group, which has 45 members mostly from the Slippery Rock and Grove City areas, performs classical music, folk tunes, spiritual songs, a few jazzy things and other pieces.

“It’s kind of a mix,” Gordon said.

The society tries to throw in a piece by German composer Johann Sebastian Bach here and there, but it does not perform much of his music. Gordon said the group is named after him because of his penchant for writing music for vocal groups.

“It’s just that Bach is known for his choral music,” Gordon said.

Part of what separates the Bach Society from other choral groups is that it chooses to perform more difficult music. Gordon said that is part of the lure of the group, allowing its members to stretch their abilities.

“It’s definitely more challenging than your average church choir music,” Gordon said.

Carolyn Rizza, society treasurer, said there is not a lot of fine tuning of the performances at the practices, saying that they usually come together fairly easily.

She also said there can be times when the music selections seem too hard.

“But, we usually make it,” Rizza said.

She said many members can read music, or have had vocal lessons and training.

The director and performers get a small honorarium for performing, which makes up a large portion of the group’s budget. The actual music also is a large part of the budget, but Gordon said the group borrows some music from local churches.

“Music is pricey,” Gordon said.

The Bach Society takes donations and also encourages people to become patrons. To become a patron, donors pay amounts ranging from $25 to be considered a “friend,” to $100 to be considered a “maestri.”

Rizza also said group members can become patrons.

“A lot of our members do that,” Rizza said.

The next practice is scheduled for Sept. 8, and practices will then take place every Monday from 7 to 9 p.m. until the winter concerts Dec. 5 and 6.

Practices will start up again on the first Monday in February and continue until the spring concerts April 24 and 25.

The Friday concerts are held at Center Presbyterian Church in Slippery Rock and the Saturday concerts are held in Tower Presbyterian Church in Grove City. All concerts begin at 7:30 p.m. and are free to attend.

The performances usually last about 90 minutes, with an intermission. The first part mostly is sacred music and the second half is usually secular.

On Aug. 15, an open house in honor of the 30th anniversary will be held at 7 p.m. at the Grove City ArtWorks on South Broad Street. The society is encouraging past members to attend.

Those interested in joining can contact director David Mruk at 412-445-3909 or Gordon at 724-450-0636. Those interested in donating can send checks payable to the Bach Society to Rizza at 182 Brent Road, Grove City, PA 16127.