PASCACK VALLEY—The Waldwick Band will conclude its 2025–26 indoor concert season with a free performance at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, April 26, in the auditorium of the Village School, 100 W. Prospect St.
Conducted by the Township of Washington’s Edmund A. Moderacki, the concert is themed “Potpourri” and will feature John Williams’ “The Cowboys Overture.” The program includes selections from the Broadway musical “Mame,” music by the Tijuana Brass, Swearingen’s “Majestia,” and marches.
The concert will also mark Moderacki’s final indoor performance as conductor, capping a 48-year tenure as music director. He will continue to lead the band through its summer concert season before stepping down.
Moderacki, who turns 80 this summer, said the decision comes as he manages a neurological condition that has made it more difficult to move around. At the same time, he said, the transition offers an opportunity for the band to move forward under new leadership.
“It was time,” he told Pascack Press on April 14. “Better to leave while I’m still on top of my musical game.”
The band’s next conductor will be Joshua Jenkins, director of bands at Ramsey High School. He will become just the third conductor in the band’s history, which dates to 1954.
Founded as the Waldwick Fire Department Band, the ensemble (waldwickband.org) reorganized in 1968 as a community band and has remained a fixture in Bergen County ever since. Moderacki joined in 1970 as a tuba player and was appointed conductor in 1978, following a recommendation from a former professor at Montclair State.
Beyond the bandstand, Moderacki has spent decades preserving and interpreting local history. He has served as River Vale’s township historian since 1990 and for years led walking tours tracing the area’s past—from Revolutionary War sites to early farms and long-vanished landmarks. He is also the author of “Images of America: River Vale.”
Over the decades, he said, the band has maintained a steady audience—one that has grown in recent years.
“We’ve continued to hold our audience,” he said. “In the last two or three years, it’s actually been getting larger.”z
The band’s identity, he said, remains rooted in a traditional model: free, accessible performances in the style of a “band in the park,” drawing musicians of varying ages and backgrounds.
“I think there’s a real need for that,” Moderacki said. “People should get out and hear live music.”
A reception with refreshments will follow the April 26 concert, offering audience members a chance to meet Moderacki.
In addition to parking at the Village School, parking will be available across from the Waldwick town pool on Hopper Street.
