protopsaltis means the cantor in charge of the music for a service of the Byzantine Rite. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.
Why “protopsaltis” is a great word
PROTOPSALTIS — [Noun] The chief cantor responsible for directing the liturgical chant and musical execution during a service of the Byzantine Rite. From the Ancient Greek πρωτοψάλτης (prōtopsáltēs), from πρῶτος (prôtos, "first") + ψάλτης (psáltēs, "singer, chanter"). Unlike a psaltis (a general chanter in the tradition) or a chorister (a singer in a Western ensemble), the protopsaltis holds a singular authority. He is the steady, anchoring voice that begins the Ison, the hand tracing the contours of a neume in the air, and the custodian of melodies passed down through unbroken centuries—a solitary figure whose fidelity is the final guardian of a sound meant to outlast stone.
Etymology
From Ancient Greek.
noun
- The cantor in charge of the music for a service of the Byzantine Rite.“For the transliteration of the Oriental characters into European notation the musical world is indebted to the care and ability of Mr. Evstratios Pappadopoulos, Protopsaltis of the Church of the Panaghia in Stavrodromion, Pera, Constantinople.”