Christopher M. Cicconi will conduct his first concert as conductor and music director of the Warren Philharmonic Orchestra this weekend.

What happens before and after those shows is as important to him as the concert itself.

Cicconi was announced in July as the successor to Susan Davenny Wyner, who stepped down after 24 years as the orchestra’s conductor and music director, but will not meet some of the musicians he will conduct until Thursday at the first rehearsal of the orchestra. . Not all are strangers to the 1996 Austintown Fitch High School and Dana School of Music graduate, who even played tuba for a few WPO concerts as a student at Youngstown State University.

“I’ve seen the list and it’s a really first-rate, top-notch group,” said Cicconi, who is director of bands and professor of music at James Madison University in Virginia. “I know some of them. I either went to school with them or some were my teachers when I was at YSU. So the list that I’ve seen is phenomenal, but some of these people I haven’t seen since I graduated, which was in 2000.”

The way he plans to approach the first rehearsal is an extension of his conducting philosophy.

“My whole philosophy of working with an ensemble is very simple — just be nice, be a good person,” Cicconi said. “Compliment the orchestra when it’s due. If there are things I need to work on, of course, but there are ways to do that.

“That orchestra will know who I am from the first word out of my mouth. I like to share stories about my life because I want people to know me beyond just being a conductor. I want them to know me as a person. I want them to know that I have two children. I want them to know that I am a teacher. I want them to know that I love hiking. And on the other hand, I’ll immerse myself in the culture there and say, “Hey, what do you like to do? What do you think about this? I think it’s important to get to know the group beyond just being musicians, but it all starts with being open, approachable and just being a nice person.”

That’s one reason Cicconi believes a reception for orchestra members at one of the board members’ homes Friday is just as important as rehearsals Thursday, Friday and the day of the concert Saturday at First Presbyterian Church. It will give the conductor and performers a chance to interact socially. The orchestra also plays on Saturday evenings instead of Sunday afternoons, when most of its concerts have been held in recent years.

“We asked that they be moved on Saturday so we could do something together on Saturday night,” he said. “Usually if the gigs are on a Sunday, people will go home afterwards and get ready for the week. Now they have Sunday off, all day. So I’m hoping that on Saturday night after the concert we can get together for a fellowship and celebrate the concert and talk about things to come. And I’m very interested to see what the musicians want from their conductor.”

The program of this first concert will include Richard Strauss’ overture to “Die Fledermaus”, “Pavane” by Gabriel Faure, Danzon no. 2 by Arturo Marquez and Symphony no. 8 by Antonin Dvorak.

Putting together any program is a combination of selecting works that are interesting and challenging for the musicians, as well as enjoyable for the audience. The opening piece “is one of the most famous overtures written in the orchestral canon and has a bunch of really fun melodies,” Cicconi said, and Marquez’s composition is full of pulsating rhythms. “Pavane” is a serene and quiet contrast between the two works in the first half of the program, and Cicconi compared listening to the Dvorak symphony to a walk in nature.

It was an additional consideration for this gig.

“There’s a very good chance the orchestra played every piece on the program,” Cicconi said. “The reason I did this is because I want to find music that we can grow with, but I don’t want music so far into my first rehearsal that we’re struggling to understand the music before we can understand the dynamics. about how the conductor and the orchestra work together. I chose these because I think the music will come together kind of quickly, but more importantly, I think the music will bring our relationship to a stronger position pretty quickly.”

The orchestra will play a shortened version of the program for area schoolchildren at Packard Music Hall on Friday, the first children’s concert since the COVID-19 pandemic. Friday’s show will feature something new for WPO audiences – an opening act. He performs in front of the Warren G. Harding High School Symphonic Band. Both reflect Cicconi’s desire to inspire new generations of classical musicians and listeners.

“I went to school with Reid Young, who is the director, and (assistant director) Heather Sirney is also a YSU graduate,” Cicconi said. “Because we are the Warren Philharmonic, the first group we reached out to was Warren G. Harding High School. They’ll do three or four pieces to open the concert, and then the symphony orchestra will play right after. I hope there will be some time during or after the concert for a fellowship where the young musicians could talk to the professional musicians. Many of them may aspire to be in the chairs one day.”

If you go…

WHAT: “Songs and Dances” — The Warren Philharmonic Orchestra with Christopher Cicconi, conductor, and the Warren G. Harding High School Symphony

WHEN: 7pm Saturday

WHERE: First Presbyterian Church, 256 Mahoning Ave. NW, Warren

HOW MUCH: Tickets are $30 for adults, $15 for students and free for children 12 and younger and are available online at warren-philharmonic.org and at the door. For more information, call 330-399-3606.