Free Library and Network for New Music Collaborate on Concert Series

New Musical Collaboration Highlights Controversial Composers

The Free Library Music Department and the Fleisher Collection of Orchestral Music are thrilled to team up with Network for New Music for an exciting new concert series.

Based in Philadelphia, Network for New Music is dedicated to commissioning and performing works by contemporary and emerging composers. The ensemble emphasizes diversity, spotlighting artists from various backgrounds whose music may have been previously overlooked. Thomas Schuttenhelm, the ensemble’s Artistic Director, frequently collaborates with the Free Library. Together, they have delivered captivating performances of ambient guitar pieces at the Parkway Central Library, featuring works such as Fifth Illumination by Matt Sargent and Efternär by Ken Steen.

The collaboration now takes on a new dimension with a series of concerts linked to the library’s exhibition: Book Complaints and the Defense of Intellectual Freedom. Titled Swimming Against the Stream: Exiled and Controversial Composers of the 20th Century, the program focuses on composers whose work has faced bans, cultural suppression, or political challenges.

Swimming Against the Stream also highlights scores that are accessible for borrowing from the Free Library’s Chamber Music Collection and the Fleisher Collection of Orchestral Music.

The Chamber Music Collection, situated in the Music Department, provides scores and parts for chamber ensembles of up to ten players. Open to amateur, student, and professional musicians, the collection is accessible with or without a library card. It boasts nearly 30,000 works, encompassing both classical staples and lesser-known treasures.

Named after Edwin A. Fleisher, who founded the first U.S. training orchestra in 1909, the Fleisher Collection of Orchestral Music is a testament to inclusivity, having welcomed children of all races, religions, and genders. Fleisher’s expansive music library, donated to the Free Library, is now the world’s largest circulating library of orchestral performance materials, containing over 22,000 works.

Audiences have three chances to experience this program with the first performance at Parkway Central Library and subsequent events as part of Network for New Music’s 2026-2027 season.