Education & Certification

The AGO is dedicated to ensuring another generation of musicians and enthusiasts of organ and choral music. The Guild has programs, both on the local and national levels, that span every age group and level of proficiency.

The Indianapolis Chapter has several different educational programs for both members and non-members. Our Chapter's Educational Outreach programs are designed to educate the young people in our community of the role the organ plays in our community today, both in a church setting and a non-church setting, and to teach of some of the science behind the pipe organ.

The second area of the Chapter's education programs is the continuing education of its members. The Chapter encourages its members to achieve AGO certification through taking the appropriate examination. Below is more information and links to the National AGO website with more information.

Educational Outreach Programs

Pipeworks Project

A two-week interdisciplinary program of classroom instructions designed to teach upper elementary school students about the world of the pipe organ. The use of a traveling pipe organ, "visits" from JS Bach, Cesar Franck and a current composer, hands-on science experiments integrate key concepts in music, science, and social studies. A field trip to a local church with a large pipe organ provides a capstone to the program.

A team of 12-15 AGO member volunteers have taken PipeWorks to 18 public and private schools since the fall of 1997, bringing the fascinating beauty of the pipe organ world to over 3,000 students.

Co-Directors Mary Ellen Burgomaster and Carole Wills also serve as the AGO National Coordinators for PipeWorks Project, serving for CONO (the Committee on New Organists) whose purpose is to assist AGO chapters to implement this and other AGO nationally designed and approved education outreach programs.

For details contact Carole Wills, carolejwills@aol.com , or
Mary Ellen Burgomaster, fburgo@msn.com



More on PipeWorks (includes video, brochure)  

Student Organ Encounter

A one-day introduction to the pipe organ for students, sometimes called Pedals, Pipes & Pizza. This event for school-age piano students is held at a local church where each students is given an individual and group organ lesson. Often a field trip to see other organs at nearby churches is included.

Download a SOE Day Registration form. Click here

A report by Tom Nichols, coordinator:

Eleven students ranging in age from 11 to 14 took part in this year’s (2007) SOE Day on Mon., Feb. 19 (Presidents’ Day) from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. This is well below our limit of 30, mainly due to the fact that many schools wound up having class that day to make up a “snow day” from the prior week’s winter storm. However, nine of the 11 students were first-time SOE participants. Guild members John Goulding, Craig Stoops, & Matt Dickerson shadowed us throughout the day. I am grateful to them, and also to the Guild members who volunteered their time as organ teachers to make the day a huge success: Lee Barlow, Edie Johnson, David Lamb, and Marko Petricic. Thanks also to Charles Manning (Assistant Minister of Music at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church) and Steve Potts (Music Director at First Baptist Church) for making it possible for us to visit the beautiful (and very different!) pipe organs in their churches and chapels.

The SOE day began with a half-hour explanation and demonstration by Tom Nichols of the pipe organ on the four manual, 80-rank Goulding & Wood organ at St. Luke’s. He discussed stop-pitches, the families of tone, mechanical aids, and other aspects of the pipe organ. Then each of the four teachers played a piece or two to show off the organ’s capabilities. The students were then divided into four groups, which were distributed among the sanctuary and chapel organs at St. Luke’s UMC and also at First Baptist Church, a short drive away. The four teachers led small-group lessons, and each hour the students rotated among the four organs and the four teachers.

After enjoying a lunch of pizza and salad at St. Luke’s, the students visited the shop of Goulding & Wood, Inc., where Jason Overall used visual aids to explain how slider chests work, and he answered some very intelligent questions. The visit concluded with a tour of the shop, where students could see the process by which raw wood and metal are transformed into a majestic pipe organ. Most impressive was the fact that the entire group of students, plus chaperones, climbed into the vacant, large swell chamber of an organ being restored by Goulding & Wood. Everyone fit in at the same time! It was a unique opportunity for them to see how swell shades work and what offset chests with mitered bass pipes look like. I am grateful to Goulding & Wood not only for offering this tour of their shop, but also for providing use of their large passenger van, driven by John Goulding, to help transport the students during the day.

I am writing an article about the history of our chapter’s Student Organ Encounter program which I will submit to The American Organist, hoping they may accept it for publication.

—Tom Nichols, SOE Coordinator
For details contact Tom Nichols, thomasnichols@prodigy.net

Member Certification

AGO Certification Requirements

		Chart of Requirements for 2008 in Adobe Acrobat Reader Format
		Requirements for 2008 Detailed Professional Certification Requirements in Adobe Acrobat Reader Format

AGO Examination Centers:  click here

Certification Chart:  click here

A List of Academic Organ Programs:  click here