Staff photo / Andy Gray
Warren Philharmonic Orchestra Music Director and Conductor Christopher Cicconi will do double duty this weekend, conducting the orchestra on Saturday and then leading the W.D. Packard Concert Band on Sunday.

Christopher M. Cicconi will be the Ernie Banks of conducting this weekend.

The Hall of Fame shortstop for the Chicago Cubs was famous for saying “Let’s play two,” even on the hottest of summer days, and the Warren Philharmonic Orchestra conductor has a doubleheader of his own planned this weekend.

After leading the orchestra on Saturday at Lakeview High School, the Austintown native and Youngstown State University graduate will guest conduct the W.D. Packard Concert Band on Sunday.

“I feel very fortunate — and this is something that I got out of my education when I was at YSU and Arizona State — that I get to sort of dabble in both genres of orchestral and wind conducting,” Cicconi said. “I just like great music with fun people.”

When he was studying at YSU, Cicconi played as a fill-in musician with both ensembles, and Cicconi first conducted the Packard band as one of the guest conductors for the 2023 celebration of life concert for former bandleader Stephen L. Gage, who was one of Cicconi’s professors at YSU, and he returned that summer to conduct one of its outdoor concerts.

Thomas A. Groth, executive director of the Packard Band, said, “I’ve known Chris since he was in high school, and when when I saw that the Warren Philharmonic concert was on the same weekend that we had ours, I thought it would be a good opportunity to have him guest conduct the Packard band on the same weekend. And he thought it was a great idea … He’s an outstanding musician and an outstanding conductor. I guess the old cliche applies, he brings a lot to the table.”

In addition to conducting, Cicconi also picked the music for both programs.

For the orchestra concert, the program was shaped by his experience leading the ensemble for the first time last fall.

“It changed a bit based on what I think people would really love to come and hear,” Cicconi said. “It’s all classical music, but it’s all classical music that people know. People know (Gioachino Rossini’s Overture to) William Tell from ‘The Lone Ranger.’

“‘Escapades’ is a concerto, but it’s a concerto for non-traditional instruments for the orchestra. Usually you would think you would hear a violin concerto or a cello concerto, and here we have a saxophone, vibraphone and double bass concerto with orchestra. It’s got some serious jazz influences, which is really fun to listen to, and it’s based off of the movie ‘Catch Me If You Can.’ The concerto was actually written by John Williams (the film’s composer), and he took the music from ‘Catch Me If You Can’ and sort of blended it down into three movements.”

Soloists for “Escapades” are James Umble, saxophone professor at YSU; Maximilian Dimoff, principal double bass with the Cleveland Orchestra; and Matthew Holm, a percussion professor at Kent State University.

The second half of the concert will be Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 in C minor.

“Everyone knows the first movement of the Beethoven,” Cicconi said. “It might be one of the most famous classical pieces ever written.”

Connecting the two concerts, Cicconi programmed one piece for both performances. He will conduct the orchestral arrangement of Frank Ticheli’s “An American Elegy,” and then on Sunday he’ll do the original arrangement with the W.D. Packard Concert Band.

“It honors the memory of the students that lost their lives at Columbine High School (in a school shooting in 1999),” he said. “I’ve never done the orchestral version, it’s got to be new. I didn’t know it existed. And I was just like, messing around on YouTube one day, and I ran across it. I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is gorgeous.’ What you have to do as a conductor, as opposed to comparing the two, you just have to embrace the colors that each ensemble brings. So for orchestra, you know, they have the ability to get that really lush string sound, that really romantic and sustained sound. They don’t have to breathe, they can hold notes forever, and so that brings its own unique flavor to the piece.

“And then the band version, which was actually written first, there are a lot more distinct colors, because there’s a lot of different instruments than in the orchestra. So you highlight what each ensemble can do, and bring out the colors that each ensemble can achieve. And the nice thing about it is the composer, Frank Ticheli, did both versions.”

Another piece for the Packard concert — Gustav Holst’s First Suite in E flat — has a personal significance to Cicconi.

“When I played with the band, I played the Holst suite, and I also studied that with Steve Gage and I played that for Steve Gage’s master student one time. I miss the man, I loved him, and that’s a special piece to me. And as a tuba player, the opening of that whole suite starts with a big tuba solo, and so I might be a little bit biased there in choosing that piece.”

Other selections with the Packard Band will include Alfred Reed’s “The Hounds of Spring,” Thomas Knox’s “God of Our Fathers,” John Philip Sousa’s “Saber and Spurs” march, Henry Fillmore’s “The Klaxon” march and “Lassus Trombone, selections from the musical “West Side Story” and Clifton Williams’ Symphonic Dance No. 3 “Fiesta.”

“I feel blessed and fortunate that I get to work with both groups, but it’s also my job to provide them with a very enriching musical experience, and not shortchanging one or the other,” Cicconi said. “I’ve been busting my butt to make sure that these scores are ready to go and that both ensembles deliver a really memorable performance.”

If you go …

WPO

WHAT: Warren Philharmonic Orchestra with Christopher Cicconi, conductor, and Maximilian Dimoff, double bass; Matthew Holm, vibraphone; and James Umble, saxophone, along with an opening performance by the Youngstown State University Youth Orchestra

WHEN: 7 p.m. Saturday

WHERE: Lakeview High School auditorium, 300 Hillman Drive, Cortland

HOW MUCH: $30 for adults, $15 for students and free for children ages 11 and younger accompanied by an adult. Tickets are available online at warren-philharmonic.org, by calling 330-399-3606 and at the door the evening of the performance.

Packard Band

WHAT: W.D. Packard Concert Band with Christopher Cicconi, guest conductor

WHEN: 3 p.m. Sunday

WHERE: Packard Music Hall, 1703 Mahoning Ave NW, Warren

HOW MUCH: Admission is free, and funding is provided by the W.D. Packard trust.