The American Guild of Organists was chartered in 1896 by the Board of Regents, University of the State of New York, to administer a comprehensive series of examinations for professional certification. The AGO currently offers five levels of professional certification:
Service Playing Certification (SPC)
Colleague Certification (CAGO)
Choir Master Certification (ChM)
Associateship Certification (AAGO)
Fellowship Certification (FAGO)
General Resources for Examinations
Complete 2024 Professional Certification Requirements
Certification Requirements Summary Chart
Webinars for Exam Preparation (scroll down the webinar page to the heading Certification under Past Webinars, Recitals, and Workshops)
Revised Hymn Booklet
The new 2023 Hymn Examination booklet is now available. The 2013 Hymn Examination booklet is no longer valid. For a list of the contents (titles and tunes), please click HERE. To download the 2023 Hymn Examination booklet you must contact the Certification Program Administrator to obtain passwords (Email: exams@agohq.org; Tel.: 212-870-2311, ext. 4303). Once you have obtained the passwords, please return to this page and click HERE to access the page with the downloadable files of the 2023 Hymn Examination Booklet.
Please note that the booklet will be updated due to copyright issues. Only a few hymns will be replaced, all other material will remain valid. Please see this page when the certification requirements are released for more information.
Exam Locations 2023 (2024 Exam locations will be updated here in January, 2024)
New Composer Diversity for 2021 (PDF)
Music Teachers National Association Certification
AGO members may apply for MTNA certification at the MTNA member price. For complete information, click here.
