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The Making of a Reform Jewish Cantor
CD Included
The Making of a Reform Jewish Cantor
Musical Authority, Cultural Investment

Judah M. Cohen
cloth
$39.95
Modernity and tradition in the training of American Jewish cantors
"An important, richly detailed work, the first comprehensive study of the training and professional enculturation of this central liturgical/musical leader. . . . As Cohen examines how individuals and institutions negotiate the balance between tradition and modernity, he makes a significant contribution to our understanding of contemporary religious life, professional development, and the construction and negotiation of cultural/religious identity." —Rabbi Jeffrey A. Summit, Tufts University

"A unique study focusing on the training and transformation of Reform cantorial students into invested cantors. . . . Informative and interesting." —
The Making of a Reform Jewish Cantor provides an unprecedented look into the meaning of attaining musical authority among American Reform Jews at the turn of the 21st century. How do aspiring cantors adapt traditional musical forms to the practices of contemporary American congregations? What is the cantor's role in American Jewish religious life today? Cohen follows cantorial students at the School of Sacred Music, Hebrew Union College, over the course of their training, as they prepare to become modern Jewish musical leaders. Opening a window on the practical, social, and cultural aspects of aspiring to musical authority, this book provides unusual insights into issues of musical tradition, identity, gender, community, and high and low musical culture.

Judah M. Cohen is the Lou and Sybil Mervis Professor of Jewish Culture and Assistant Professor of Folklore and Ethnomusicology at Indiana University Bloomington. He is author of Through the Sands of Time: A History of the Jewish Community of St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands.
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Distribution: World
Publication date: 10/1/2009
Format: cloth 320 pages, 3 b&w illus., 14 musical exx., 6.125 x 9.25 x 1
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