Are the "choir director" and "cantor" the same thing?
In the Catholic tradition, as in the ancient Jewish tradition, the cantor is the person who sings or chants the intoned liturgical prayers. Often these are in the form of a responsory, as in the Responsorial Psalm (sung after the first reading of scripture in the Liturgy of the Word), where the cantor in effect leads the congregation. But at other times during the Mass, as at the Communion Antiphon, the music is solo.
The use of a choir would be a separate consideration.
