Program Director: Giancarlo Ranzani
Giancarlo is a scholar, guitarist, and educator working at the intersection of research, music practice, and music education. His current enquiry centres on Afro-Atlantic learning ecologies – particularly in relation to Cuban traditions. Combining ethnographic fieldwork with analytical frameworks drawn from social, philosophical, educational, and cognitive disciplines, his research aims to contribute to the understanding of how musicians develop expertise through enculturative and embodied learning across landscapes of practice. In addition, he examines the effects of the integration of these learning processes with notation-based learning epistemologies underpinning Western art music traditions. Alongside his research activity, Giancarlo maintains his interest in guitar playing and music learning methodologies. Grounded in his experience as an eclectic session guitarist and teacher of electric, acoustic, and classical guitar, he has developed expertise across a variety of guitar approaches, which has shaped and continues to shape his perspective on guitar pedagogy.