Dr. Christi Anne Castro

Biography

Christi-Anne Castro is an ethnomusicologist whose research interests include music politics, nationalism, community music, and music festivals. She participated in the Faculty Scholars Program in Integrative Medicine at the University of Michigan for the 2010-11 academic year and served as a Rackham-Mellon Public Engagement Humanities Faculty Fellow in 2019-20. From 2013 to 2019, she was the director of the University of Michigan Center for Southeast Asian Studies. In recognition of her contributions, she received the John H. D'Arms Faculty Award for Distinguished Graduate Mentoring in the Humanities in 2021 and the Shirley Verrett Award for mentoring in 2025. Her book, "Musical Renderings of the Philippine Nation" (2011, Oxford University Press), won the Global Filipino Literary Award for Nonfiction in 2012. Her varied publications include articles on music education in the Philippines, subjectivity in research, Asian Americans and popular music, and the connections between Tin Pan Alley music and the Filipino-American War. She is currently working on a book provisionally titled "Rehearsing Community: Playing Music, Art, and Belonging." Castro has served as co-editor for the journal Music & Politics from 2017 to 2022 and is a long-time member of the editorial board for the journal Asian Music. She teaches a variety of courses including Fieldwork & Ethnography, Global Pop, World Music Pedagogy, Music of Latin America, Music & Body, Music & Nationalism, Music & Community, Everyday Musicology, and Music Festivals. Her professional service includes serving twice on the Council of the Society for Ethnomusicology (SEM) and being involved with the programming committee for SEM national conferences. She was the chair of the SEM program committee for the 2023 conference in Ottawa. In addition to her academic work, she composes and arranges music for the Philippine rondalla and performs with Iskwelahang Pilipino Rondalla in Boston and PACE-MI Rondalla in Michigan. In 2022, she served as the composer-in-residence for the Classical Mandolin Society of America convention.

Research Interests