| Dr. Jan-Piet Knijff Becomes Associate of the American Guild of Organists, Wins Associateship Prize and S. Lewis Elmer Award |
| Over the summer of 2005, Chapter member Jan-Piet Knijff was certified an Associate of the American Guild of Organists, AND took both the Associateship Prize and the S. Lewis Elmer Prize for having the highest scores in the nation on the Guild's annual professional certification exams. We are very proud of our successful member. Bravissimo! Dr. Knijff, a native of the Netherlands, is an artist in residence at Queens College and very active in New York's early music scene. He took the Guild exam in June of 2005 in Manhattan. The American Guild of Organists was chartered in 1896 by the Board of Regents of the State University of New York and empowered to grant certificates (by law, we may not call them diplomas!) that have served since the outset as definitive benchmarks of an organist's skill. Though they are not technically academic degrees, but rather professional certifications, they come with certain academic privileges, such as the right to append initials after one's name and the right to wear academic dress as specified in the Intercollegiate Code. The full range of certificates is as follows: Service Playing Certificate. An extremely useful, entry-level certification that measures compentency in playing a regular service of worship. Often, the holder of this certificate will append SPC after his or her name. Usually, the holders of this certificate have proven themselves to be among the most dedicated and devoted members of the Guild. One should be very proud of this distinction and more organists should strive to achieve it. For the truly ambitious (or masochistic) there are also: Colleague (CAGO) Associate (AAGO) Fellow (FAGO) For these last three, a progressively more demanding demonstration of skills is required, including sight-reading, transposition on sight, open score reading in modern and archaic clefs, improvisation, and extensive written skills in music history, theory, orchestration, counterpoint, and aural skill. Based on the French conservatory curriculum, these certificates are hard to earn and highly coveted. Though they are not technically "equivalent" to bachelor's, master's, or doctoral degrees, the academic dress registered for them follows that pattern. So a Fellow of the Guild is legally entitled to the doctoral gown and hood. The Guild also supports choral directors, and offers them the: Choirmaster (ChM). For this certification, practical demonstration with a vocal quartet is required, and the written questions include a great deal on plainchant notation, liturgy, hymnology, and the like. The highest scores in the upper-level exams (AAGO, ChM, FAGO) are each honored with a Prize annually, provided a minimum high score is reached. The highest score overall is honored with the S. Lewis Elmer Prize. The Brooklyn Chapter now boasts two past winners of the Associateship Prize and the S. Lewis Elmer Award. The other winner, Jonathan Hall, FAGO (1997), serves as Sub-Dean of the Chapter. |