[HANASHIR:10719] Re: roll of the volunteer choir

[Lynda Casden <lyndaC...>]

Ellen:
I am a soloist in Illinois and the trend is for the congregation to participate
in the service but the soloist still is the leader of the service and the choir
sings once a month at the family services. The leader (soloist, Cantor), still
introduces new melodies but also keeps the nusach alive. The reform synagogues 
in
this area (suburban Chicago) are all similar in this respect. I believe that
there is room for everything and we can not afford to forget our traditional
nusach. This is an important issue to discuss, thank you for bringing this up!
Lynda Casden

ItaSara (at) aol(dot)com wrote:

> A lot has been changing lately in the music of temples.  The trend is more
> toward participation rather than listening. The philosophy where I volunteer
> is according to our religious practice chair is <<The future is music sung by
> the congregation led by a soloist or Cantor and with a volunteer choir to
> provide support and to help the congregation learn new music as it is
>
> introduced. >> I am just curious,  is that the trend where you are?  How do
> you see the role of the choir at services? Does the choir do anything special
> that keeps their interest up as well? Is the music of yore dying along with
> the Yiddish language? Are the cantorial gems just a thing of the past or for
> special programs only? Or is this millennium going to be the friendly user
> approach to religious practice? Is that really the best approach? Iâ??m just
> curious what othersâ?? thoughts are.
>
> Thanks for your input in advance.
>
> Ellen Lerner
> upstate NY
>
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