Listen Up: Ben Finane '99 Helms New Magazine for Classical Music Lovers

Want the inside story on your favorite soprano, a fresh take on a Beethoven masterwork, or the scoop on the Seattle classical music scene? The new bimonthly print magazine Listen: Life with Classical Music, edited by Ben Finane '99, is for you.

Published by ArkivMusic, a leading distributor of classical CDs and DVDs and a subsidiary of Steinway Musical Instruments, Listen was launched in March and contains feature articles, profiles of musicians, composers and music travel destinations as well as recommendations for recordings, books and films.“There is no American print magazine that addresses the classical music community,” says Finane.“It is a niche that needs to be filled, and we're excited to try and fill it.”

Finane has managed to parlay a lifelong passion into his life's work. An amateur pianist since age five, he majored in music and comparative literature at Haverford and credits Haverford music professor Curt Cacioppo for stirring his interest in contemporary classical music. After graduating, Finane went on to become assistant to the director of development at Carnegie Hall, then worked as a fundraiser for United Way of New York City. When he recognized the need for a career change, he took a course in copy editing and became an editor at the classical music online magazine Andante.com. He also wrote music features and reviews for Time Out New York, the Newark Star-Ledger, and the San Francisco Chronicle.

Presently, Finane's day job is managing editor of Playbill Magazine's classic arts division. He has also written a book, Handel's Messiah and his English Oratorios, published in March by Continuum Books.“It's part of a series,” he explains,“that guides lay listeners through masterworks of the classical canon in an accessible way.”

Finane is enthusiastic about his involvement in burgeoning Listen Magazine and is pleased to see that the magazine has amassed a responsive audience in such a short time: The inaugural issue was sent to 50,000 customers of ArkivMusic.com mailing list, and 3,000 readers have already signed up for subscriptions.

“Music is a universal language,” he says,“and we're promising to bring its message to listeners through the peerless medium of print. There's so much to learn, and so many people who want to learn more.”

For more information, go to www.listenmusicmag.com.

-Brenna McBride