A cantor or chanter is a person who leads people in singing or sometimes in

prayer Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication. In the narrow sense, the term refers to an act of supplication or intercession directed towards a deity or a deified ...

. In formal

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

worship, a cantor is a person who sings solo verses or passages to which the choir or congregation responds. In

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in t ...

, a cantor sings and leads congregants in prayer in Jewish religious services; sometimes called a hazzan. A cantor in

Reform Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement ...

and Conservative Judaism, just like in

Orthodox Judaism Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses ...

, goes through years of extensive religious education, similar to that of a

Rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

, in order to become an officially recognized cantor. They often come from a long line of cantors in their family; born with a natural gift of singing with incredible

vocal range Vocal range is the range of pitches that a human voice can phonate. A common application is within the context of singing, where it is used as a defining characteristic for classifying singing voices into voice types. It is also a topic of st ...

. The term itself was shaped by the Latin term for "singer," but is not an inherently Latin word. It is frequently used to translate a range of equivalent terms in other languages, such as for the leader of singing on a traditional

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

snake boat, a

Chundan Vallam Chundan vallam ('beaked boat'), known outside Kerala as Kerala snake boats, are one of the icons of Kerala culture used in the Vallamkali or boat race. Naval architecture Constructed according to specifications taken from the ''Sthapatya Ve ...

. A similar term is

precentor A precentor is a person who helps facilitate worship. The details vary depending on the religion, denomination, and era in question. The Latin derivation is ''præcentor'', from cantor, meaning "the one who sings before" (or alternatively, "first ...

, defined as a leader of the singing of a choir or congregation. More specific types of cantor include: * Hazzan in Judaism, a singer and/or musician.

only allows men to be cantors, while the other branches allow women. Reform Judaism and Orthodox Judaism ordain cantors from seminaries. Ordained cantors serve as clergy in their congregations and perform all ministerial rites as rabbis. * An ordained

muezzin The muezzin ( ar, مُؤَذِّن) is the person who proclaims the call to the daily prayer ( ṣalāt) five times a day ( Fajr prayer, Zuhr prayer, Asr prayer, Maghrib prayer and Isha prayer) at a mosque. The muezzin plays an important r ...

, who calls the Adhan in Islam for prayer, that serves as clergy in their congregations and perform all ministerial rites as imams. *

Cantor A cantor or chanter is a person who leads people in singing or sometimes in prayer. In formal Jewish worship, a cantor is a person who sings solo verses or passages to which the choir or congregation responds. In Judaism, a cantor sings and lead ...

in Christianity, an ecclesiastical officer leading liturgical music in several branches of the Christian church **

Protopsaltis In Christianity, the cantor, sometimes called the precentor or the protopsaltes (; from ), is the chief singer, and usually instructor, employed at a church, with responsibilities for the choir and the preparation of the Mass or worship service ...

, leader master cantor of the right choir (Orthodox Church) **

Lampadarios A lampadarius, plural ''Lampadarii'', from the Latin ''lampada'', from Ancient Greek "lampas" λαμπάς (candle), was a slave who carried torches before consuls, emperors and other officials of high dignity both during the later Roman Repub ...

, leader of the left choir (Orthodox Church) **

Domestikos ''Domestikos'' (; el, δομέστικος, from the la, domesticus, , of the household), in English sometimes heDomestic, was a civil, ecclesiastic and military office in the late Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empire. Military usage The ''dom ...

, leader assistant to the Protopsaltis of the right choir and/or to the Lampdarios of the left choir (Orthodox Church) **

Precentor A precentor is a person who helps facilitate worship. The details vary depending on the religion, denomination, and era in question. The Latin derivation is ''præcentor'', from cantor, meaning "the one who sings before" (or alternatively, "first ...

Succentor The succentor ("under-singer") is the assistant to the precentor, typically in an ancient cathedral foundation, helping with the preparation and conduct of the liturgy including psalms, preces and responses. In English cathedrals today, the prie ...

References

Religious music Religious occupations Broad-concept articles {{Reli-stub

See also

References