When we release our 2019-20 program details, you’ll some increased focus in AGO Certification this year. We are very excited about certification and the benefits it can bring all organists, whether professional, volunteer, or hobbyist.
This month’s TAO (The American Organist, July 2019), includes a few certification testimonials in an article entitled, “AGO Professional Certification” that goes right along with our chapter focus. (Read TAO online at agohq.org.)
My favorite is this one:
The AGO examinations, which test many areas of skill, promote a complete musicianship that has always been an organist’s hallmark. For me, the study and practice leading up to each exam were as fulfilling as the sense of achievement when I passed.
—David Enlow, FAGO, ARCCO
So, I’m going to throw out the challenge now. I am going to go for my Service Playing certification this season! I am not trained. I am a volunteer organist. I play Sundays in my LDS congregation and I really have very little aspiration for organ repertoire. However, I have great aspiration for what David wrote above: “a complete musicianship that has always been an organist’s hallmark.”
Every organist, whatever one’s role, needs that next-step musicianship. I know already from experience that each step up in my skills increases my enjoyment of the organ. Now, certification is my next step. July 2019 TAO also documents the 2020 AGO Professional Certification Requirements. You can also find them on agohq.org.
So, will you join me?