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Joanna Alexander of Chicago was installed as the part-time cantor at Temple Rodeph Torah in Marlboro, on Dec. 19.

Alexander said being the cantor at Temple Rodeph Torah has been a very warm and welcoming experience.

"I couldn't have asked for a better place," she said.

Alexander graduated from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, School of Sacred Music in May of 2008 where she received a Masters of Sacred Music and Cantorial Investiture. While studying she interned at temples in New York and Pennsylvania.

In order to find a job, she used the assistance of the American Conference of Cantors, which is the professional Union for Invested and Certified Cantors for the Reform movement, Alexander said.

"They assist congregations to find cantors and cantors to find shuls," she said.

Temples that need a cantor submit to the ACC a job description for the type of cantor that they are looking for, she said.

"Then cantors looking for jobs look to see what matches their interests and location," Alexander said.

Alexander said then the next step of the process involved narrowing it down to the shuls that appealed to her and sending her resume to the ACC, who then forwarded it to all of the shuls.

"I created an audition CD with several pieces of music," she said.

She then had a phone interview with Rodeph Torah, and met with Rabbi Donald Weber and the cantor search committee, she said.

"I auditioned, sang in person, taught Torah, and they interviewed me about my background," she said.

Weber said Alexander has a great relationship with the congregation and with him.

"She has created a love with the congregation that's absolutely wonderful," he said.

Alexander and the shul are a perfect match, Weber said.

"People feel they can talk to her and she is open to people's ideas," Weber said. "This was a wonderful match for the shul and me. She has an extraordinary voice and a beautiful soul and it comes out in her music and every time she speaks."

Overall, the members of the committee, the rabbi, and the shul were impressed, which led to the job being offered to her in April. Her first day of work as the cantor was July 1.

"It was overwhelming at first," she said. "I spent five years in school learning how to be a cantor and I was never sure what it was going to be like."

Alexander said that when she first started she was wondering if she was prepared for the position.

"I came in with not a sole belt of confidence and I discovered that I can work my way leading services," she said.

Since she started in the summer while Weber was on sabbatical, she had to learn on her own.

"I discovered I had a lot of ideas to bring to the synagogue," she said.

Alexander said she and Weber have a good relationship.

"I feel very blessed to be working with Rabbi Weber," she said. "It's been real amazing. People came by after the holidays to tell me how good of a job I was doing."

Alexander said even with the inclement weather on the day of the installation dinner, the installation service was wonderful and the turnout was huge. The installation was performed by cantor Deborah Bard from her shul in Chicago, K.A.M. Isaiah Israel.

"It showed me that I have made relationships with people that are both meaningful to myself and them," she said.

The members of the shul made it easy to become a part of the temple, she said.

"One of my goals is the relationship between the community and myself," she said. "I need to know the needs of the community."

However, she said it is a challenge to meet with everyone from the shul on a one-on-one basis.

"It's a slow-going process to get to know each other well," Alexander said. "My long-term goal is what they (members of the shul) seek from their relationship from the temple, the clergy, with God, with Reform Judaism, and with Judaism."

Alexander, who is 28 years old, resides in Rahway. Additionally, she sings in the New Jersey Cantors Concert Ensemble that performs throughout the state. Alexander is also the co-chair of the School of Sacred Music Alumni Association-Outreach to Student Working Group.