Toni Cutajar Il-Pikkolin

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Toni Cutajar Il-Pikkolin

Toni Cutajar Il-Pikkolin.

, officially called Anthony Carl, is an improvised verse folksinger. He was born on the 9th July 1993 and hails from Birkirkara. He grew up in the Oratory neighbourhood.

Contrary to popular belief that his nickname Il-Pikkolin, lit. the little one is a moniker for his physiognomy, he inherited this from his family, all from Birkirkara.

Cutajar was exposed to folk singing as a seven-year old through his father, at the Pietà Boċċi Club, then managed by għana promoter Charles Mangion Iż-Żubina. The venue was to become his natural home.

It was Mangion who encouraged him to break into the folk singing world through a bout with Frans Cachia l-Budaj tas-Siġġiewi. He was to folk sing several times with others, mainly Wally Ghiller tal-Isla, Frans Mifsud ta' Vestru, Etienne Pawney In-Naxxari, Kalċidon Vella d-Danny and Leli Lia s-Setti.

The Pietà venue closed its doors on the 6th June 2012 and since then Cutajar has only folk sung on very few occasions. He declines invitations to folk sing in bars, and has opted not to be enrolled by a folk promoter within a given group, preferring to be a roaming spirit.

Cutajar claims that his mentor was Frans Baldacchino l-Budaj, who advised him to adhere to the improvised verse folk singing code of keeping to the subject and to avoid malice.

Interestingly, he does not listen to għana from yesteryear nor to his own recordings, since he believes that once the bout is over, it's done and dusted. Nor does he mentally prepare himself prior to an event, since he trusts that one is born with għana within him and it can flow out naturally once he is on stage.


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