I've always meant to work towards these & this seemed the year to do it. With the AAGO in hand, I'm allowed to try for the Fellow certification next year, the highest certification offered. As they say in Elf, "It's time to start preparations for next C[ertification]mas!"

Thanks to Kelly & Ben for their support, Marianne who helped me practice writing music dots, & my mom who helped watch Marianne during the three marathon days of exams. (& a special shout-out to my mom who quizzed me for multiple hours during a road trip to southern Maryland!)

(mine included Louis Daquin, Noël Variations no. X; Herbert Howells, Psalm-Prelude Set 2, no. 1 (Psalm 130, "Out of the depths"); Thomas Kerr, Arietta; and J.S. Bach, Fugue in E-flat Major BWV 552, "St. Anne").

...general music knowledge, liturgy, dictation, & error detection) & ~2 hours of practical work (including rehearsal work, conducting, & – at sight at the keyboard – transposition, melody harmonization, figured bass realization, improvisation) inclusive of ~40-minutes of recital repertoire...

The AAGO and ChM are Masters-level equivalency certifications & are dependent upon ~9 hours of written testing (including harmony, form, composition, counterpoint and fugue writing, knowledge of vocal production, choral & organ repertoire, organ registration, chant notation & performance...

Many, many thanks to Lavena Johanson and Ben Hawker for their brilliant performance (linked below) back in May 2023, and to St. David's Episcopal Church for the continuing ed funding that supported the award application, and congrats to fellow finalist Marshall Jones!

I remember reading/listening to The Dark is Rising series and The Prydain Chronicles around the time I experienced L’Engle!

This is such a phenomenal read.

My dad gave me the heads up that it was tricky so I came prepared with some deep-cut nerddom! Still didn’t get perfect though!

SO GOOD