Band's Summer Concerts Await Approval In Toms River, Director Says

TOMS RIVER, NJ – For more than 60 years, the Toms River Municipal Band has been entertaining audiences, bringing music to warm summer evenings in downtown Toms River.

The band of 30 musicians, many of them graduates of the Toms River schools, gather on the steps of the Ocean County Library as part of Ocean County’s Carousel of Music concert series. The concerts are free to the public.

Frank Hughes, the band’s director, said it was formed in 1963 by Franklin Fisher and Bill Saltern – who was the band director at Toms River High School (now Toms River South). Hughes was a sophomore trumpet player back then, and performed with the band until taking the director's baton from his teachers in 1979.

The concerts were what launched the Carousel of Music series, he said.

"It's a 61-year-old musical treasure," Hughes said.

The 2025 concert performances would be the band's 62nd year. But Hughes on Wednesday said he was still waiting for Toms River to finalize its commitment to provide funding for the band, as the town has done for years.

It receives $3,300 in funding from Ocean County and has received $10,000 from Toms River, with the funds used to pay the musicians $60 stipends for each performance, as well as to bring in guest soloists and purchase new music. The band has seven performances, including one during the Christmas holiday season.

For 2025, Mayor Daniel Rodrick asked the band to give two unpaid performances at the Toms River Senior Center in addition to the seven concerts already planned, to be held during the day while the Senior Center is open, Hughes said.

Hughes said there are logistical challenges to fulfilling the request for two additional concerts, including that the musicians work during the day and would have to take time off from work to perform at the Senior Center. Hughes offered a compromise of one concert instead.

Rodrick, in a text message Wednesday night, said the band had agreed to add a show at the senior center.

Hughes said he had not been notified by Rodrick or any other town official that the compromise offer had been accepted.

"I've called, I've emailed. No one got back to me," he said.

Holding concerts at the Senior Center poses risks, Hughes said. The acoustics of the center's community room, which has 8-foot ceilings, would lead to decibel levels at heights that can harm people’s hearing, with 30 musicians playing.

“Even if we reduce it to 18 musicians (the members of the group’s jazz band) it does not totally mitigate the noise level,” he said.

The performance could be moved outside at the center but that poses risks of heat exposure and the potential for unhealthy air quality issues, which are a concern for seniors, Hughes said.

He said he recommended having the seniors bused to the Ocean County Library for performances, but never received a response to that suggestion or any other emails he's sent since April, when Rodrick made the request.

So, Hughes said, he has been forced to wait and wonder if the funding will be provided, putting any preparations on hold.

"It takes 12 hours to prepare the music for each concert," Hughes said. "The musicians are holding the proposed dates. The county is holding the proposed dates,” which will have to be filled if the band does not receive the funding.

“I just want an answer," he said.