After 35 seasons at the helm of the San José Chamber Orchestra, founder Barbara Day. Turner is passing the baton to concertmaster Liana Bérubé, who will take over as music director. Turner will remain active in the orchestra in her role as artistic director.

The San José Chamber Orchestra (SJCO) will pay tribute to Turner on Sept. 27 with a program titled “Brava Maestra!” Bérubé will be at the podium for the concert, which opens the group’s 36th season.

Bérubé met Turner in 2011 when she auditioned for the orchestra and was named associate concertmaster.

“Barbara immediately struck me as a vibrant, wickedly intelligent and no-nonsense person, and I was immediately drawn to her,” Bérubé wrote in an email. “Over the years she has been incredibly supportive of me and my own projects, offering me solo opportunities, investing in my commissioning projects and giving me countless tidbits of valuable advice. She has seen and nurtured opportunities for my growth that I didn’t even know were there.”

Turner has provided other musicians with growth opportunities over the years, commissioning and/or premiering over 260 new works, and has accepted five ASCAP/League of American Orchestras Adventurous Programming Awards.

The program for the Sept. 27 concert honors Turner’s sense of adventure. Bérubé will be the violin soloist on Marc-Olivier Dupin’s “Variations on La Traviata,” while David Cortez and Adrienne Malley will play soprano saxophone and English horn solos, respectively, on  Michael Touchi’s “Tango Barroco.” The piece is one of more than 20 that Touchi, longtime  organist/pianist for Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Saratoga, has written for the chamber  orchestra.

The program also features Jeremy Cohen’s “Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen (To Me, You Are Beautiful),” Steven Mark Kohn’s “Hymn (for string orchestra)” and Max Wolpert’s “Lid un Tantsn,” String Quartet No. 3.

In retrospect, Bérubé says it seems as though Turner has been prepping her to take over as music director and conductor for some time. It’s a responsibility she doesn’t take lightly.

“I think she has seen this handoff coming for many years,” Bérubé said. “She started asking me to lead conductor-less pieces in rehearsal and performance at least as far back as 2018, and has from time to time consulted me on repertoire for a long time as well.

“It’s a huge honor for me to be given the task of carrying forward the incredible organization she has created; I feel a massive responsibility and also a deep gratitude to Barbara and the larger SJCO community for the trust that is being placed in me to bring SJCO into its next chapter.”

The San José Chamber Orchestra will perform “Brava, Maestra!” Sunday, Sept. 27,  at 7 p.m. at St Francis Episcopal Church, 1205 Pine Ave. in San Jose’s Willow Glen neighborhood. Tickets are $25-$85 at https://sjco.org, 408-295-4416 or at the door.