Philip Ciantar Interview
Philip Ciantar is associate professor of music at the University of Malta. His research subjects are largely Andalusian music, music and colonialism, the transmission of musical knowledge, and musical analysis in world music studies.
How did you get to where you are today, professionally?
My interest in ethnomusicology began when I was an undergraduate at the University of Malta. At that time, I was studying to become a teacher of Maltese but there was the opportunity to attend other modules from other departments. Since I was already active locally as a musician and in possession of a diploma in trombone playing I had no problem in getting accepted for these classes. I started attending the lectures of the Maltese composer Charles Camilleri (1931-2009) on Mediterranean music. In fact, it was Camilleri who encouraged me to study ethnomusicology and to focus on Mediterranean music. Eventually, following my first degree I went to England to study for an MA in ethnomusicology at the University of Durham under the supervision of Prof. Robert C. Provine and Prof. Jonathan P. J. Stock. Consequently, my relationship with Prof. Stock resumed when he acted as supervisor for my PhD in ethnomusicology at the University of Sheffield (UK). My PhD research focused on the Andalusian tradition of ma’lūf in Libya.
Did you have any mentors along the way? What did they teach you?