In 1931 Vantoura started studying at Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris, (CNSMDP), and in 1934 earned a First Prize in Harmony.
Haïk-Vantoura argues that the accentual system preserved in the Masoretic Text was originally a method of recording hand signals ("chironomy") by which temple musicians were directed in the performance of music.
Her reconstructions, which rely on the assumption that cantillation marks represent the degrees of various musical scales, are incongruent with all existing traditions, where the signs invariably represent melodic motifs, not individual notes; it also takes no account of the existence of older systems of notation, such as the Babylonian and Palestinian systems.
Encyclopaedia Universalis, a French online encyclopedia, presents her work as a firmly scientifically established conclusion.
[3] Some musicians have also produced recorded music based on her alleged decipherment, more particularly the French harp player Esther Lamandier and Chanticleer.
Haik-Vantoura's work has been rejected by some researchers as based on Western preconceptions and subjective assignments, coupled with historical misunderstandings.
[4][5] However author David C. Mitchell has defended it, noting that it agrees closely with the best remaining fragments of ancient psalmody.