Malta's Musical Bridge to Libya & the Arab World | Philip Ciantar
In this conversation, we talked to Philip Ciantar about his position as a senior lecturer in music at the School of Performing Arts, University of Malta. We also discussed ethnomusicology, world music, Mediterranean music of the oral tradition, Maltese popular music, Ciantar’s books and much more!
Philip Ciantar is a senior lecturer in music at the School of Performing Arts, University of Malta, where he teaches courses in ethnomusicology, world music, methods of research in music, Mediterranean music of the oral tradition, and Maltese popular music. Following his first degree from the University of Malta, he furthered his musical studies at the University of Durham (UK) where he graduated with an MA in music (ethnomusicology). In 2006, he graduated with a PhD from the University of Sheffield with a thesis focused on the Arab Andalusian music of Libya (ma’lūf). He served as Head of the Music Studies Department (UM) between 2016 and 2020. Ciantar is the author of The Ma’lūf in Contemporary Libya: An Arab Andalusian Musical Tradition (Ashgate 2012; Routledge 2016) and Studies in Maltese Popular Music (Routledge 2021), as well as of various articles in ethnomusicology.
The afikra Podcast
The afikra Podcast is our flagship series featuring experts from academia, art, media, urban planning, and beyond, who are helping document and shape the histories and cultures of the Arab world through their work.
