Is it time for a new classical music magazine?

As we mourn the decline of newspapers and the shrinking news hole for arts reporting and criticism, Eric Feidner has stepped in to save the day with the launch of LISTEN: Life With Classical Music, a new general-interest bimonthly classical music magazine. I haven’t received my issue yet, but I’m curious to see what he is up to. Feidner, as you may recall, established ArkivMusic not long after 9/11 and dot.com crash. Despite what appeared to be extraordinarly bad timing,  that online venture thas become the largest US classical music retailer. The new magazine is an spin-off of ArkivMusic, which describes its as “a lifestyle magazine for classical music.”  According to the ArkivMusic news release, the magazine will profile musicians and  music travel destinations, along with recommendations of recordings, books and films. The first issue (March/April) includes a spotlight on Seattle’s music scene, 15 questions for Met Opera impresario Peter Gelb, and thoughts on music and life from Isabel Bayrakdarian, Danielle de Niese, Joyce DiDonato, Leon Fleisher, Hélène Grimaud and Alexandre Thiraud, among other features. Sounds interesting. Now if I can just convince him to take a look at Chicago’s chamber music scene…