About 80 musicians in the Arapahoe Philharmonic are rehearsing weekly with maestro Vincent C. LaGuardia Jr. for their first concert, on Sept. 30, in a spacious new venue: the Mission Hills Church at 620 Southpark Drive in Littleton.

The orchestra, which was founded in 1964, will greet friends at an open house from 3 to 6 p.m. Sept. 18. Tours of the facility will be available, as will snacks and beverages.

LaGuardia will preview the concert season called “By Popular Request,” which promises to fill the hall with best-loved selections from many sources and many periods.

The first concert will be called “Italy and Germany: By Popular Request” and include music by Respighi and Brahms. It will begin at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 30 and feature Jim Todd, principal cello, in Respighi’s “Adagio for Cello and Orchestra.”

The orchestra has performed a Respighi work every season since Maestro LaGuardia joined the Arapahoe Philharmonic 18 years ago. “Respighi has been a spiritual connection — as though I can se though his eyes and hear through his ears,” LaGuardia said.

Witty Charley Samson, from KVOD, will return as Master of Ceremony .

A Classic Children’s Corner will open at 7:10 p.m. before the concert and will teach children about clothing, transportation and inventions in parallel time periods of Brahms and Respighi.

LaGuardia has conducted the orchestra since 1993, designing a program each season that draws music lovers from the metro area.

Most of the orchestra members are volunteers, who play for the love of music. In addition to adult concerts, the orchestra has an outreach program, including children’s concerts school visits and the T. Gordon Parks Memorial Collegiate Competition. (Parks was a longtime conductor of the orchestra).

Season tickets and single tickets for the 2011-12 season are available at www.arapahoe-phil.org or at 303-781-1892. Tickets: $10 to $25.