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AGO Choir Master Certification

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.  Examinations have played a central role in the Guild’s work since its founding.  Being professionally certified can play a major role in your life and career. Choir Master certification attests to a candidate’s ability to lead a choir and establish effective procedures necessary for a successful choral program. The Choir Master exam requires proficiency in the following areas:

1. Rehearse a choir and conduct them in a worship service.
2. Harmonize a melody at the keyboard.
3. Demonstrate basic keyboard skills and knowledge of chord progressions.
4. Transcribe from dictation and detect errors in a played passage.
5. Analyze form in choral music.
6. Show knowledge of Gregorian chant and its distinctive notation.
7. Demonstrate knowledge of hymnody and liturgy.
8. Articulate principles and guidelines for vocal training.
9. Be familiar with choral literature.
10. Show familiarity with music history and literature.

2021 Application Deadlines and Fees

The next exam will be given June 2, 2021 (morning and afternoon). Both sections, $300; single section $250; no student rate. Surcharge for non-AGO members is $100.

Click HERE to submit an application form to take the Choir Master Examination.

2021 ChM Repertoire Update

Either of the following works may be substituted for Copland’s “At the River”:
David Hurd: “Love Bade Me Welcome” (Shela 418-610).
Rosephanye Powell: “The Word Was God” (Gentry Publications JG2323).

Educational Resources for Choir Master Certification

Videos Demonstrating Certification Exam Procedures
100 Strategies for Successful AGO Certification
Professional Certification Requirements 2021
AGO Bibliography for Examination Preparation

Past Choir Master Exams

Choir Master Exam 2019      Solutions for the 2019 exam
Choir Master Exam 2018      Solutions for the 2018 Exam
Choir Master Exam 2017      Solutions for the 2017 Exam
Choir Master Exam 2016      Solutions for the 2016 Exam
Choir Master Exam 2015      Solutions for the 2015 Exam

Choir Master Ear Training Exercises

The AGO Committee on Professional Certification has created the ear training exercises below for candidates to use in their preparation for Choir Master certification. Listen to each of the examples and then refer to the Ear Training Solutions and the Ear Training Solutions – Error Detection.

Past TAO Articles for Exam Preparation

Preparing for AGO Exams (reprints from past TAO magazine articles)
AGO Colleague Examination 2013/Improvisation Question/The Modulating Bridge by Philip Gehring, FAGO, Oct. 2013 (revised)
AGO Service Playing Anthem Accompaniment/Thou Wilt Keep Him in Perfect Peace: Approaches to Wesley’s Most Popular Anthem by Jonathan B. Hall, FAGO, ChM, August 2012
“It Don’t Mean A Thing If You Can’t Make ‘Em Sing”/Leading Hymn Singing from the Organ: A Practical Checklist by Kenneth Grinnell, FAGO, ChM, April 2006
Regular Countersubjects in Fugue by Walter Hilse, FAGO, March 2008
Ten Tips on Sight-Reading by Jonathan B. Hall, FAGO, ChM, March 2009
The Fugal Answer by Walter Hilse, FAGO, April 2006
Transposition: Not a Four-Letter Word by Kenneth Grinnell, FAGO, ChM, May 2008
On Modulation by Dean Billmeyer, FAGO, Handout from a 2008 convention workshop
Two Additional Service Playing Test Pieces by Kathleen Thomerson, FAGO, ChM, October 2009

Contact Cliff Hill Music or Lois Fyfe Music for purchasing Choir Master repertoire.

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AGO Professional Certification Links

Service Playing Certification
Colleague Certification
Choir Master Certification
Associateship Certification
Fellowship Certification

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Lessons for the New Organist

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The mission of the American Guild of Organists is to foster a thriving community of musicians who share their knowledge and inspire passion for the organ.

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