TURNING THE PAGE…
The digital media revolution has arrived at Classical Guitar magazine. The issue dated Fall 2019 is the last that will appear in print. In its place will be three equally valuable sources of information, inspiration, and instruction: ClassicalGuitarMagazine.com, Classical Guitar News e-news, and Acoustic Guitar magazine, newly expanded to include more coverage of all styles of music where the nylon-string guitar reigns supreme.
Our decision to suspend publication of Classical Guitar in print was not taken lightly. We recognize that it has served as the voice of the classical guitar community, first from its home in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, for 32 years, and more recently as a revamped and reimagined ex-pat in California.
In response to the digital media revolution, Stringletter Media—a small, specialist, family-run business—is making the same shifts, adjustments, and pivots as the largest media companies in the world. One such adjustment entails devoting our limited resources to strengthening our best-performing print magazine. In our case that’s Acoustic Guitar, and we sincerely believe that our ability to serve classical and nylon-string guitarists like you well into the future rests in serving all guitarists with one print magazine while continuing to specialize online.
If you now subscribe to the quarterly Classical Guitar, you will automatically receive the bimonthly Acoustic Guitar, starting with the issue dated January/February 2020, for the calendar duration of your subscription (e.g, if you expect three more quarterly issues before your current term runs out, you’ll receive five instead). If you don’t already read Acoustic Guitar, you can expect literate, diverse coverage of the musicians, techniques, and repertoire of both the steel-string and nylon-string worlds. In the works for your first issue, for example, are a lesson on Carulli with Michael Chapdelaine, a profile of Jason Vieaux, a composition from a recent classical-guitar recording, and a review of Yamaha’s nylon-string Transacoustic guitar—along with a talk with Roger Bucknall of Fylde Guitars, a lesson with Molly Tuttle, a family tree of British fingerstyle guitar, and much more.
On ClassicalGuitarMagazine.com and in the Classical Guitar News e-newsletter, you’ll continue to enjoy the same great mix of articles, videos, news reports, and archival items you find there today.
For the five years during which Blair Jackson has been Editor of Classical Guitar he’s also served as a Senior Editor of Acoustic Guitar. I have asked him to do everything he can to integrate the spirit and content of the former into the latter, with the goal of making this transition as seamless for you as it will be for him. Blair and I are thankful to all of you for your invaluable and enthusiastic support (and, yes, constructive criticism) these past five years. It’s been an honor to carry on the enterprise founded in 1982 by Maurice Summerfield.
And thanks to all my colleagues here at Stringletter Media for bringing Classical Guitar into the digital era and keeping the enterprise alive and well. As a lifelong member of the magazine publishing industry (48 years and counting) I share your devotion to the printed word. While Classical Guitar the magazine may be gone, its fundamental purpose and spirit has always been shared by Acoustic Guitar and we welcome the opportunity to prove that to you.
Please stay in touch and let us know how we can continue to serve your needs and interests.
Sincerely,
David A. Lusterman, Publisher