The right Hebrew word for "cantor" is ba'al tefillah, master of prayer. The mission of a cantor is to lead in prayer. The cantor does not stand before the Ark as an artist in isolation, trying to demonstrate skill or display vocal feats. The cantor stands before the Ark not as an individual but with a congregation.
"The heavens declare the glory of God." How do they declare it? How do they reveal it? "There is no speech, there are no words, neither is their voice heard." The heavens have no voice; the glory is inaudible. And it is the task of people to reveal what is concealed; to be the voice of the glory, to sing its silence, to utter, so to speak, what is in the heart of all things. The glory is here--invisible and silent. Man is the voice; woman is the voice; their task is to be the song. The cosmos is a congregation in need of a cantor.
Humanity is the cantor of the universe and in whose life the secret of cosmic prayer is disclosed. To sing means to sense and to affirm that the spirit is real and that its glory is present. In singing we perceive what is otherwise beyond perceiving. Song, and particularly liturgical song, is not only an act of expression but also a way of bringing down the spirit from heaven to earth.
--Abraham Heschel, quoted in Prayers of Those Who Make Music
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