Canoe Ridge Bluegrass Band. Submitted photo

Clarinetist Janice Coppola and the KleZletic Klezmer Band will liven Saxonburg Memorial Church at 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 25 as the church’s concert series, Saxonburg Concerts, returns for its third season.

The donor-sponsored series is free to attend and aims to bring high-caliber talent to southern Butler County, according to Dan Byerly, the series’s artistic director. Guests can anticipate about one event per month through March 2027, spanning a range of genres from klezmer and bluegrass to swing and opera.

The October act, KleZectic, specializes in klezmer music, or the instrumental musical tradition of the Ashkenazi Jews of central and Eastern Europe. The style also mixes American, Latin and Balkan musical styles, according to its Facebook page.

The group is planning to bring an instructor skilled in types of Jewish dance to invite audience members to try their hands at a few dances, Byerly added.

“Because there’s not a huge Jewish community really in southern Butler County here, I think a lot of people around us just don’t know that music,” Byerly said. “That’s exactly the kind of thing we want to do here every once in a while is bring something that a lot of people in our area just haven’t heard before.”

Other acts for the season include bluegrass band Canoe Ridge Nov. 15, Saxonburg Memorial Presybertian Church Christmas Cantata with a live orchestra, band and choir Dec. 12 and Dec. 13, big band and swing band Pittsburgh Big Band Legends Feb. 7 and “Songs of Travel & Other Wanderings,” featuring voice and piano music by Dan and Melissa Byerly, March 2027.

Unlike in years past, Saxonburg Concerts did not feature a September act because of the variety of music offered during the Saxonburg Artisan Market.

The concert series grew out of Byerly’s desire to bring diverse, high-caliber musical talents to Saxonburg audiences for free. In the past, the concerts have drawn crowds of at least 150 people, Byerly said.

With the exception of the Butler County Symphony Orchestra, “I realized that there wasn’t a lot of opportunities for hearing a wide variety of music in our area without having to drive,” Byerly, who is also the church’s director of music ministry, said. “I hope that people of all ages come and hear the variety of music that is out there to be experienced and perhaps learn about a new type of music or new style or a new instrument.”

All performances take place at Saxonburg Memorial Church at 100 West Main Street, Saxonburg. All ages are welcome to attend.

For more information on the concert series, visit saxonburg.org/concertseries or check out the Saxonburg Concerts Facebook Page.