WARREN — Christopher M. Cicconi played tuba for a few concerts with the Warren Philharmonic Orchestra when he was pursuing his bachelor’s degree at Youngstown State University in the late ’90s.

Now the 1996 Austintown Fitch graduate will be the next music director and conductor of that orchestra.

“I’m thrilled to be named the new music director,” Cicconi said Friday. “Northeast Ohio is a special place to me, and I’m excited to come back home.”

It’s one of two new jobs for Cicconi. In the fall, he will begin his tenure as director of bands and professor of music at James Madison University in Virginia, and he will continue his role as principal conductor of the Baltimore Symphony Youth Orchestra.

Cicconi, who earned his master’s degree from Arizona State University and a doctorate in instrumental conducting from the University of Miami, previously taught at Towson University in Maryland.

William Mullane, president of the orchestra’s board, said a committee made up of board members and musicians from the orchestra whittled down the initial applications to five candidates who were brought in for interviews (with some candidates being interviewed twice) before selecting Cicconi.

“He has so many things compatible with our orchestra,” Mullane said. “His previous experience, one of his degrees is from YSU. He was born and raised and still has family in the Valley, so he hits the ground running in terms of understanding who and what the Mahoning Valley is. And he has a real affinity for the types of music we’ve done but also demonstrated a real sense of enthusiasm for taking classical music and expanding to new audiences, especially outreach to underserved groups. He’s comfortable working with teachers and schools. Those things just made him shine.”

Cicconi replaces Susan Davenny Wyner, who resigned last year after 24 years as music director and conductor of the orchestra.

“The musical director there before me, she was a world-class conductor who had been with the orchestra for quite a long time,” Cicconi said. “Change is always a very hard thing. She really put that orchestra on the map and looking at the repertoire they’ve done, they’ve done some world-class rep.

“Continuing that legacy and trying to reach out to all different kinds of audience members is a big thing I want to do in my tenure there. Mixing in some classical music and masterworks they’ve alway done, but also mixing in some new music.”

Mullane agreed.

“The things we need to now explore are what everybody in the field (is facing),” Mullane said. “No matter where you go in the country, orchestras, symphonies and chamber groups are going through a big transition in terms of keeping and expanding audiences. There needs to be a focus on the development of the next generation of audience members, patrons and especially the next generation of musicians. Not all schools have the luxury of having a string program. Universities, by and large, are at various stages of contraction and changes.”

Cicconi is looking forward to doing that outreach to area schools. Many of his former classmates at YSU now are band directors at area schools, and one possibility he mentioned is having some of those high school ensembles open for the orchestra at its concerts and / or having those band directors conduct a selection with the orchestra.

Cicconi said two of his biggest mentors in the Mahoning Valley were Lawrence E. Snell, his band director at Austintown High School, and Stephen L. Gage, with whom he studied at YSU.

“He (Snell) was the one who put me on the path to music education,” Cicconi said. “He’s the one who introduced me to the tuba, and I just fell in love with it. And he introduced me to Steve Gage. I loved both of them like a father. That’s why I went to Youngstown State, to be in Steve Gage’s band and later Steve Gage’s orchestra. They put me on the path of doing this thing, and I can never thank them enough.”

The lessons Cicconi learned from Gage, who also served as conductor of the W.D. Packard Concert Band until his death in February 2023, extended beyond music.

Cicconi returned to the area last summer to be a guest conductor with the W.D. Packard Concert Band. Thomas Groth, executive director of the Packard Band, called Cicconi an outstanding young man.

“A colleague told me Chris Cicconi is considered the Steve Gage of Maryland because of the way he cared about people and went overboard to help people the way Steve Gage did here.”

“There’s not a bigger compliment,” Cicconi said when told about Groth’s comment.

Cicconi will conduct his first concert with the orchestra this fall. The 2024-25 season has not been announced yet, and Cicconi said he is working on selecting the program for the two concerts.