He’s taking the helm at Emmanuel

Turner, who officially assumes his duties in September, is both a conductor and a tenor who joined Emmanuel’s chorus in 1997 and has been a frequent vocal soloist. The sequence of concerts he has assembled for the 2010-11 season shows continuity with the group’s tradition while indicating his desire to follow his own path. Speaking by phone earlier this week, Turner said that he looked at his first season as a chance to “draw upon all the strengths of Emmanuel Music . . . to kind of present all that it’s capable of.’’

On Sept. 24, the first of the group’s two evening concerts will be devoted to Handel’s “Alexander’s Feast,’’ a setting of a Dryden ode to St. Cecilia, patron saint of music. The second, on April 16, offers a concert performance of Stravinsky’s witty yet unsettling opera “The Rake’s Progress,’’ the pinnacle of his neoclassical period.

“When I started singing [at Emmanuel], I always loved that we would do Handel oratorios,’’ said Turner. Handel was a composer to whom Smith brought unique insights. So was Mozart, and Turner explained that programming “The Rake’s Progress,’’ which wears Mozart’s influence openly, was a way of both nodding to Emmanuel’s history and departing from it. “Stravinsky is one of my favorite composers,’’ he said. “The fact that it’s in a Mozartean style was . . . a kind of tipping of the hat to Craig and his incredible understanding of Mozart and that tradition, but with a little eye to the future.’’

The group will also begin a new edition of its chamber series, which explores the vocal and chamber music of a single composer in detail over the course of multiple seasons. Previous series have delved into Brahms, Schubert, and Schumann; this season will offer the first series devoted to Beethoven. While that may not seem a particularly original programming gambit, consider that Turner is omitting the string quartets — the most ubiquitous block of Beethoven’s chamber music — and that the season’s four concerts (Oct. 31, Nov. 14, Feb. 13 and 27) are packed with rarities, including the composer’s early string trios and arrangements of Scottish folk songs for voice and piano trio. And there are underperformed works, such as the Quintet for Piano and Winds, Opus 16, which Turner calls “a real masterpiece.’’

“One of things that Craig always did well was take a composer that everyone knew and find some lesser-known works that were real gems,’’ said Turner. “I’m hoping to do that with Beethoven.’’

There will also be a series of six free noontime concerts devoted to Bach’s sonatas for viola da gamba and recorder (Thursdays, March 10-April 14). And one major component of Emmanuel’s activity will remain firmly in place: the weekly performances of Bach cantatas in the context of Sunday church services, a practice that goes back to Emmanuel Music’s founding. The series will actually expand, starting a week earlier than usual (Sept. 26), and ending a week later (May 1).

Several Emmanuel musicians noted in the aftermath of Smith’s death that there was no guarantee that this venerable tradition would remain when a new artistic director came in. At least for now, though, their presence is secure.

“I feel so strongly that one of the things that makes Emmanuel work so well is this weekly dialogue with Bach,’’ Turner said. “We have an ensemble that gets together on a weekly basis and explores this music. And it makes us a more efficient ensemble when it comes to rehearsing other composers. But it also makes us understand each other and how we make music together. I mean, it’s music and texts that you have to struggle with. It’s the heart of who we are.’’

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David Weininger can be reached at globeclassicalnotes@gmail.com.