Since co-founding the Network for New Music in 1984, she has been instrumental in bringing more than 500 new musical works to Philadelphia, but at the end of this season, Artistic Director Linda Reichert will finally step away from those beloved instruments.

“I’ve done it,” she said in a Philadelphia Inquirer report by Peter Dobrin. “I’ve put my heart and soul and brain into it, and now it’s time for something else.”

The Chester Springs pianist is officially retiring, with an honorary concert commissioned for April 2018.

Reichert remains on track to become a future president of the Musical Fund Society of Philadelphia, and the Network for New Music will soon search for a successor.

Among the highlights of her leadership are the Network ensemble musicians’ “dedication to finding the meaning in the music, and high level of expressive, virtuosic performances” plus “the huge commitment the organization has made to supporting top-notch composers with substantial commissioning fees.”

Of the 500 new works, 138 were specifically commissioned by the Network.

Read more of Linda Reichert’s retirement story in the Philadelphia Inquirer here.