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

What happens before and after those performances is just 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 conductor and music director of the orchestra, but he won’t be meeting some of the musicians he’ll lead until the orchestra’s first rehearsal on Thursday. Not all of them 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 roster, and it’s a really first-rate, top-notch group,” said Cicconi, who is director of bands and a professor of music at James Madison University in Virginia. “Some of them I know. I either went to school with them or some were my professors when I was at YSU. So the roster that I’ve seen is phenomenal, but some of these people I haven’t seen since I graduated, which was in 2000.”

How he plans to approach that first rehearsal is an extension of his philosophy as a conductor.

“My whole philosophy for working with an ensemble, it’s really simple — just be nice, be a good human,” Cicconi said. “Compliment the orchestra when they deserve it. 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 that comes out of my mouth. I like to share stories about my life, because I want them to know me besides just as 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’m a teacher. I want them to know that I like hiking. And on the flip side of that, I’ll immerse myself in the culture there and be like, ‘Hey, what do you like doing? What do you think of this?’ I just think it’s important to know the group beyond the fact that they’re musicians, but that all starts from being open, approachable and just being a nice person.”

That’s one of the reasons that Cicconi believes a reception for the orchestra members at one of the board member’s homes on Friday is just as important as the rehearsals Thursday, Friday and the day of the Saturday concert at First Presbyterian Church. It will give the conductor and performers a chance to interact socially. It’s also why the orchestra is performing on a Saturday evening instead of a Sunday afternoon, when most of its concerts in recent years have taken place.

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

The program for that first concert will feature Richard Strauss’ Overture to “Die Fledermaus,” Gabriel Faure’s “Pavane,” Arturo Marquez’s Danzon No. 2 and Antonin Dvorak’s Symphony No. 8.

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 it has a bunch of really fun melodies,” Cicconi said, and Marquez’s composition is filled with pulsating rhythms. “Pavane” is a serene and tranquil contrast between those two works in the first half of the program, and Cicconi compared listening to the Dvorak symphony to a walk through nature.

There was one additional consideration for this concert.

“There’s a really good chance that the orchestra has played every single piece on the program,” Cicconi said. “The reason I did that is I want to find music that we can grow with together, but I don’t want music that’s so far out there in my first rehearsal where we’re struggling to understand the music before we can understand the dynamics of how the conductor and the orchestra works together. I picked these because I think the music will come together somewhat quickly, but more importantly, I think that music will bring our relationship to more of a powerful standing pretty fast.”

The orchestra will play an abbreviated version of the program for area school children on Friday at Packard Music Hall, the first children’s concert since the COVID-19 pandemic. The Friday performance will feature something new for WPO concertgoers — an opening act. Playing before the orchestra is 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’s the director, and (assistant director) Heather Sirney is also a YSU grad,” Cicconi said. “Because we’re Warren Philharmonic, the first group that I reached out to was Warren G. Harding High School. They’re going to be doing three or four pieces to open the concert, and then the symphony orchestra will play right after. I’m hoping that there’s some time during or after the concert for some fellowship where the young musicians could maybe talk to the professional musicians. A lot of them might aspire to be in their chairs one day.”

If you go …

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

WHEN: 7 p.m. Saturday

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

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