It is a magazine for classical music lovers with a difference in taste and content. Classic, which was launched last month, has got many wondering if it is a Kenyan publication. Yes it is. It is a publication of The Art of Music.

Elizabeth Njoroge is one bold woman who has dared tread on to the very sophisticated yet challenging world of magazines- more so publishing a 34- page monthly musical magazine.

Ms Njoroge studied pharmacy but due to her passion for music, she went to study classical music in Scotland, London and Canada where she joined the university choir.

Her passion and career in that music genre was put on track when one of the university's director introduced her to classical music. It grew into a passion that she could not stop.

When she came back to Kenya and noticed that its performance and teaching was wanting, she decided to use her knowledge to advance the music.

"The few people who understood classical music were not ready to transfer their knowledge, leaving many with just the rudimentary knowledge of the music that they learnt in primary school," says Ms Njoroge.

Some of our radio stations play classical music for a few hours, something that she, however, hopes will improve people's view of the classics, especially the locals.

Her frustrations eventually led to the launch of a newsletter which she communicated online and when the readers demanded more, she introduced the classics magazine last month.

With the words Classics printed on the cover of the magazine, the five ledger lines of music and a portrait of the influential composer of the classical era, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the magazine depicts the 18th century western classical music. It features classical music but hopes to introduce jazz that is integrated with classical music.

The content is simple. It does not get too technical and talks about how classical music came to be.

Her main objective is to build a foundation for the many who want to venture into the field of classical music, especially for budding musicians and to educate those who have a passion for this type of music. She also wants to get more people interested in classicals,

Her initial target market was the elite business people, expatriates and foreigners living in the country but she soon realised that a lot more Kenyans loved classical music, including the younger generation who are joining music schools.

"The market response is fantastic and after running the online database where people come up with all sorts of questions and ideas, I felt it was the right time to introduce a classical music magazine," she says. Her target now is anyone and everyone who shows interest in classical music.

She is the editor of the magazine but the publication is open to contributors. For the next four months, the magazine will run a series called Understanding the Orchestra- a question and answer column powered by an orchestra specialist Jim Pywell who answers all the questions on orchestra.

The magazine has a teacher's corner and a student's corner where teachers talk about classical music while the students' talk about their future plans in music.

It also gives the budding musicians a chance to highlight some of the challenges they face in the music industry in their own words and how they have learnt to overcome them. There is a CEO segement where they write to tell readers of their favourite piece of music using their own language.

A section of the magazine highlights events and performances on orchestra, opera and classical music.

On sale

This is to inform classical music lovers of the concerts taking place. The magazine is now on the shelves of NuMetro, and other shopping malls at Sh200 and on Air Kenya Planes.

At the moment there are no competitors against the magazine and she hopes to expand its distribution to cover the whole of East Africa , and introduce a jazz section. Her longterm plan is to start a classical music radio station.

"I want a vibrant scene as that is what people would like to see and listen to. I also hope that Kenya will one day be in the map in terms of classical music," says Ms Njoroge.

She would also like to see music being made a compulsory subject in schools.

"It is a shame that it is a subject many are encouraged to drop but in actual fact it has a way of teaching discipline, expanding certain parts of the brain and has good value in the development of children," she says.

"The bigger activity is unfortunately only in the private schools like Brook House, and Peponi because they have the capacity to teach and the students can afford to buy the instruments and hold competitions," she says.

The current big performers who seem to draw crowds are the Nairobi Orchestra which performs over two days and the Kijani Trust which has a yearly festival and bring in performers from other countries. There are also individual performers and composers like Janet Mugambi and others who nobody knows about.

Her main concern now is not the magazine content but the financial obligations and the involvement in putting the magazine together.