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)
Read the 2024 Certification Challenge from AGO President Dr. Eileen Hunt, AAGO
General Resources for Examinations
Complete 2025 Professional Certification Requirements
Certification Requirements Summary Chart (coming soon)
Webinars for Exam Preparation (scroll down the webinar page to the heading Certification under Past Webinars, Recitals, and Workshops)
Revised Manual of Procedures for All Certification Examinations
The new 2024 Manual of Procedure was completed by the Committee on Professional Certification at their June meeting in New York City after many months of careful consideration of the needs of candidates, coordinators, proctors, and examiners for clear and concise instructions on all parameters of planning, preparation, and administration of exams. Procedures for Service Playing, Colleague, Associateship, Fellowship, and Choir Master examinations are covered in this one document. All candidates, coordinators, proctors, and examiners are expected to read and refer to this manual well in advance of and during the entire examination cycle. Please click HERE to print or download the document.
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 The 2013 Hymn Examination booklet is no longer valid.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.
Exam Locations 2024 (The list of Exam Centers will be available in January, 2025)
New Composer Diversity for 2021 (PDF)
Examiners’ Gradings
All examiner results are final, having been graded by two examiners under supervision of the Committee on Professional Certification with use of a third examiner when scores of two are wider than 10 points over the pass/fail mark. Exams will not be readjudicated unless undeniable error can be proven by the candidate.
Recordings of Performance Examinations
The recordings made for grading of Service Playing and Colleague examinations, and archival recordings of Associate, Fellow, and Choir Master performance examinations are solely for the use of examiners and members of the Committee on Professional Certification to grade or review the exams. These recordings will not be made available for scrutiny by candidates, their teachers or coaches, or any local proctor, coordinator, or examiner. The scores and comments made by examiners are to be perceived as offered in good faith for the benefit of candidates to provide honest, anonymous, and unbiased feedback based on the education, knowledge, and experience that examiners are required to possess concerning all aspects of the exams.
Music Teachers National Association Certification
AGO members may apply for MTNA certification at the MTNA member price. For complete information, click here.
Committee on Professional Certification (CPC)
Click here to view committee members.
