[HANASHIR:6454] GTM and Certification

[JHPlaner <JHPlaner...>]

I respond to the recent exchanges in the HN list-serve discussing
certification of synagogue musicians and the Guild of Temple Musicians.
Perhaps a more timely response would have been preferable, but I needed to
consider my response carefully.  First I will explain the nature of the
Guild of Temple Musicians (henceforth GTM); then I will address the issue
of certification.  I apologize for a somewhat lengthy posting.

The GTM is an affiliate of the American Conference of Cantors (henceforth
ACC), and thereby affiliated with the UAHC.  Membership is open to any
individual interested in Jewish music:  music directors, organists,
soloists, organists, keyboardists, composers, choir members.  A small
number of invested/certified cantors and rabbis also belong to the GTM.
Membership is open to Jew and  Gentile, but all soloists must be
Jewish--the GTM and the ACC feel strongly that Jewish worship should be led
by Jews.  Our current membership is about 325. The nature of the GTM is
primarily educational and networking--comparable in some ways to Hanashir,
save that we place more emphasis on "serious" choral music and nusach and
less on song-leading and popular styles.  [That's NOT a put-down, nor does
it imply that popular styles are not serious or sincere; but most GTM
members think of themselves are synagogue musicians rather than
songleaders.  That said, many GTM soloists play guitar, and the melodies of
Debbie Friedman, Klepper, and Carlbach are familiar to us too.  We all, I
think, recognize the necessity of combining various musical styles in a
service.]  Some GTM members are just entering the field--often Gentile
organists but also many Jews as well; we try to provide educational
information, basic repertoire, and contacts with others in the same area to
help answer their questions.  Some GTM members are superb musicians with
little knowledge of Judaism; some read and speak Hebrew fluently but are
not strong musically.  Some GTM members are strong in music and in Jewish
studies.  Some of our best GTM soloists enter the certification program and
become invested/certified as cantors through a program administered by the
ACC and the School of Sacred Music--and we welcome them in the Guild as
they begin their journey toward that goal.  We also try to provide
information to members about salaries (we are planning a new salary survey
of our membership--our old survey is six years old) and we have a small
number of sample contracts (with names and salaries deleted) to help
members in salary negotiations.  We too have a list-serve of about fifty
members.  We are represented to the UAHC commissions on synagogue music and
on small congregations.  We have an outreach program to help small
congregations without cantors who would like a choir director or organist
to assist them; the ACC has a similar program to send cantors to such
congregations.  We support an annual Young Composers Award to encourage
Jewish composers to write Jewish music.  We are nearing the end of a
campaign to endow that award--and we are more than eighty-percent toward a
goal of $30 K.  We jointly sponsor a four-day summer convention with the
ACC and a mid-winter convention for two days as well.  Those conventions
are filled with workshops, concerts, tefillah, and shmoozing.  Last week we
had a glorious convention in LA--which we called LA2K; next summer we will
meet in Washington DC.  Our newsletter is sent (usually) three times a
year.  And we urge the appropriate UAHC organizations to sponsor workshops
for synagogue musicians.  If any HN subscriber is interested, I will gladly
snail-mail a GTM brochure/application; please E-mail me privately though at
JHPlaner (at) manchester(dot)edu(dot)  I will gladly discuss the GTM with 
anyone who
calls my home (219) 982-7148; I live in NE Indiana--same time zone as
Chicago.

The issue of certification of synagogue musicians is complex.  At one time
the ACC, our parent organization, urged the GTM to institute a
certification program.  We have resisted that request for several reasons.
(1) We are a volunteer organization--all board members are unpaid.  A
certification program would involve great amounts of time and expense.  (2)
Out primary mission was providing education and support; we are not an
accrediting organization--nor are we a formal school.  The primary center
for musical education is the School of Sacred Music (SSM) in New York (and,
we hope--soon in Los Angeles).  I think it is most unwise (as well as
chutzpadik) to view the GTM as a formal educational institution with
certification powers.  (3) Cantors invested through the SSM are trained
music professionals in our movement.  They have spent four years (starting
this year it will be five!) studying Hebrew, nusach, repertoire, minhagim,
music education and pastoral care--all this after completing a
baccalaureate degree. They are educators for us all--as well as trained
synagogue musicians and clergy.  A three-hour course in Jewish music and a
certificate cannot possibly equate with the years of study and commitment
of a cantor.  The cantorial curriculum is the equivalent of a Ph.D.
program--though it awards only a masters degree.  [I write as a
musicologist with an earned Ph.D.]  (4) At the Guild's urging the SSM, the
ACC, and the Commission on Synagogue Music have reinstituted various
workshops for synagogue musicians on diverse topics:  Shabbat repertoire,
High Holiday repertoire, modal structures, etc.  The workshop in Cincinnati
this month, Mifgash Musicale, is a part of that ongoing instruction, as
have been other workshops sponsored by the ACC and Commission on Synagogue
Music   (5) We are unsure exactly what skills such certification should
include.  Is pronouncing Hebrew sufficient or should one read and translate
it as well?  Biblical or modern Hebrew?  [How important is it to understand
the pual and hif'il forms of verbs or to know about infinitive constructs?]
How much of the Ashkenazic modal system should be taught?   What level of
sight-singing is required?  What should be the balance between Sulzer /
Lewandowski / Helfman / Cotler / Novakovsky / Hirshhorn / Solomon / Piket?
(6) Is certification primarily a means of obtaining more salary or of
on-going education for its own sake?  I think we should study continuously
because study is what Judaism is about. (7) Is certification necessary?  A
small congregation seeking a synagogue musician looks wherever it can find
one--within the congregation or without.  Very few congregations can afford
full-time employment for a choir director or organist or soloist.  With
part-time employment a reality, few people will relocate for part-time pay.
And large congregations can (and, I think, should) hire a cantor so that a
member of the clergy and a trained, Jewish musical professional is
available full-time.  (8) If certification is desirable, then such a
program should be established by the School of Sacred Music--which is
precisely in that field--and not by the GTM or HN.

The Guild will continue to urge the ACC and SSM and Commission on Synagogue
Music to sponsor workshops for synagogue musicians.  We invite those
interested in the Guild to join us--our conventions too are wonderful!

John Planer, President
GTM

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