[HANASHIR:4837] Re: HANASHIR digest 762

[Judith Rowland <jrowland...>]

Why does HUC admit so few candidates every year (or turn away so many),
as this thread suggests? Because the physical plant of HUC in NY  can
only accomodate between 10-15 students per year - bad planning! The fact
is that, until recently, the job market only required that many
graduates. However I know this issue is currently being addressed.

Who is eligible for admission to the ACC?  Does one have to have
graduated from just one or two schools? (Do JTS-trained cantors
qualify?)  Membership in the ACC is open to all graduates of
HUC-JIR-SSM. It is also available to JTS grads after passing an exam on
Reform repertoire and practice. Graduates of foreign institutions have
also been accepted, depending on the academic program. Further, those
who have successfully completed the certification program are welcomed
as Regular Members, and I know that the program is NOT being shut down!

Why can't one take an exam for admission, say..... especially
if that person trained under the supervision of a trained chazzan? You
can! That's the point of the Certification Exam. Anyone who can pass it
is certified. The five-year program is set up just for those kind of
candidates who are either studying elsewhere or privately. However, as
stated, the exam is not easy and is not based solely on "skills".
Today's Reform Cantor is a full member of the clergy, working in areas
that are not just chanting/davening. Those who have attending HUC will
tell you that it is the total, full-time immersion into the
Academic/Spritual/Cantorial world that molds the multi-faceted Cantor
that congregations are looking for. It is the ability to study with a
plethora of the best Jewish minds of our time - Cantorial and Rabbinic.
It is the Hebrew immersion during the first year in Israel, the
supervised student pulpit work, the ability to be surrounded by a
student body of cantors, rabbis and educators and social-work students
that create the entire cantor.

Cantor Judith K. Rowland
Baltimore Hebrew Congregation

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