District Cantor

A district cantor is a church musician who is assigned to one or more church districts and church districts and who bears special responsibility for church music and liturgical life there. In some regions and churches this office is also called Dean's Office , and in the case of more than one Dean's Office it is also called Regional Cantor ; also Kreiskantor or church music waiting are common names. The office of a district Kantor said in many churches Bezirkskantorat or Kreiskantorat .

tasks

Cantor training

An important task is usually the training and accompaniment of part-time organists and choir conductors in church music lessons ( organ , piano and voice training) with or without examination objective (D / C examination). For this purpose, church music training courses are offered, which provide an elementary introduction to liturgical organ playing as well as to subjects such as music theory , worship ( liturgy ) and hymnology ( hymnology ).

Advisory tasks and further training offers

Advising all church musicians in the assigned district is also one of the essential tasks. This also includes questions of literature selection and its liturgical usability.

The district cantor keeps an eye on the training courses for part-time church musicians, lecturers , preachers , but also for full-time vicars , chaplains , pastors or other people involved in the liturgy. As a rule, he introduces new hymn books , familiarizes himself with the vocal parts of the new liturgies and agendas of the respective regional church and provides information on developments in worship services as far as they concern church music.

For the part-time organists in his department, the district cantor offers organ tours and organ excursions, during which selected instruments from the near and far are presented. At the same time, the district cantor uses these instruments to discuss questions relating to the history of organ building, registration and the art of interpretation.

Concert activity

It offers district-wide projects for vocal ensembles , wind ensembles and church choirs that would not be possible in smaller, rural communities: concerts, church music days, work weeks and musical weekends are also offered.

Organ maintenance and building

The district cantor keeps an eye on all the organs in the churches and chapels of his district; he advises - in agreement with the responsible organ experts - on rebuilding and building new instruments.

contacts

The district cantor maintains contact with the management of his church district (e.g. dean , superintendent and the regional church music director of the respective regional church or free church). Some service assignments also include contact with the trombone choirs and their choir leaders.

Publications

The district cantor regularly reports on the regional and national development of church music at district synods, cantor meetings, pastoral conferences and parish conventions. He participates in church music publications, especially when they concern his district.

Qualifications

In some regional churches, a church music A-exam or B-exam is required for the full-time exercise of the office of district cantor . Both organ playing and choir direction are usually equally important tasks of the district cantor, which require a higher level.

collaboration

In some regional churches, the district cantor works together with a pastor for church music or with a trusted pastor for church music . The larger changes, but also job fillings and task structures, are coordinated with this person. Occasional theological discussions about common themes and fundamentals of church music are also helpful. Individual choirs and singers are honored on the occasion of anniversaries - by mutual agreement.

List of district, dean's and regional cantors (selection)

Michael Benedict Bender Ingo Bredenbach Horst Christill Manfred Degen

Karl Maria Doll Thomas Gabriel Georg Hagel Matthias Hanke

Stefan Kagl Attila Kalman Markus Karas Joseph Kelemen

Odilo Klasen Wolfgang Kleber Johannes Matthias Michel Hans-Eberhard Ross

Rolf Schweizer Ludger Stühlmeyer

literature

A publication by the Evangelical Church in Württemberg provides detailed and exemplary information about the work of district cantors :

• Music in our church. Handbook of church music in the Evangelical Church in Württemberg , editors: Siegfried Bauer, Ingo Bredenbach and Bernhard Reich , ed. from the Office for Church Music of the Evangelical Church in Württemberg, Strube-Verlag Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-89912-102-5

The following introduces the legal and employment law issues of an evangelical district cantorate:

• Siegfried Bauer : Legal issues for church musicians , in: Try and study. Textbook for basic training in Protestant church music , Strube-Verlag (Edition 9024), Munich 1996, pp. 419–423, ISBN 3-921946-29-8

See also

• cantor
• Church music director