[HANASHIR:1842] Re: "cantor"

[Serle, Brian <BSerle...>]

I have always been told that the professional designation "cantor" can
only be conferred by an official seminary or training school, such as
the Hebrew Union College (for Reform cantors) or the Jewish Theological
Seminary (for Conservative cantors), and only after an intensive 3- or
4-year study program.  I don't know if there is a Renewal or
Reconstructionist school for conferring official "Cantor" designations.


I thought that the designation "cantorial soloist" was designed to allow
someone to act as a cantor, even if she or he did not have, or had not
yet earned, the official designation.  Here in Milwaukee, a local
soloist studied with a cantor until she earned the Cantor designation.

Some may find this oppressively collegial...on the other hand, I like
the idea that a Cantor can be just as professional as a Rabbi.

        -----Original Message-----
        From:   Rachel Gurevitz [SMTP:rgurevit (at) 
geography(dot)ucl(dot)ac(dot)uk]
        Sent:   Monday, November 23, 1998 1:22 PM
        To:     hanashir (at) shamash(dot)org
        Subject:        [HANASHIR:1841] Re: "cantor"

        At 12:21 23/11/98 -0700, you wrote:
        >For whom is the title "cantor" appropriate?  There are both
"cantors"
        >and "cantorial soloists" in my city with music training - but
not
        >specialized cantorial training.

        I'm sure the cantors (official) on this list will come in on
this one.  In
        the UK, there is no place to get training for Reform cantors
and, as such,
        the tradition is all but gone from our progressive
congregations.  However,
        many congregations have choirs where the choir leader solos on
some
        traditional cantorial material, and other places where a
songleader both
        leads communal tunes and does necessary solos (e.g. Barechu).
They are not
        cantors.  Cantors train for at least 5 years and have a pretty
amazing set
        of skills and knowledge, religiously as well as musically.  I
wouldn't feel
        comfortable sharing their title.

        Rachel
        ____________________________

        Rachel Gurevitz
        Department of Geography
        University College London
        26 Bedford Way, London
        W1CH 0AP.  UK
        Tel: 0171 387 7050 x5526