Keiran Cantilina first got involved with bells as an undergraduate at Cornell University, where he joined the student group that plays the university's historic 21-bell chime. He held leadership roles in that organization for two years, and he still returns to Cornell every year as a member of the Chimes Advisory Council. As a graduate student at the University of Minnesota, he continued his interest in bells by studying the carillon with Dave Johnson at House of Hope Presbyterian Church in St. Paul.

With Johnson’s support, he was awarded a grant from the Belgian American Education Foundation that enabled him to pursue a one-year accelerated program in carillon performance at the Royal Carillon School "Jef Denyn" in Belgium. He concluded that year with a diploma cum laude and a prize as one of the finalists of the Queen Fabiola International Carillon Competition. Between these events, he passed the professional carillonneur exam for professional membership in the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America (GCNA).

Since then, Cantilina has been active in the GCNA as a current member of the board of directors and a juror on the GCNA's exam committee. He is also a member of several other committees in both the GCNA and the World Carillon Federation. He currently holds the position of Assistant Carillonneur at Church of the Covenant in Cleveland, Ohio, and he was recently elected president of the board of directors of the Friends of the McGaffin Carillon.

Outside of carillon, Cantilina works as a biomedical engineer for the Cleveland Clinic. He enjoys growing hot peppers, making cocktails for friends, and the perpetual work involved in maintaining a 113-year-old house.