Carillonneur Exam

The purpose of the Carillonneur Exam is to advance individuals from Associate or Associate Carillonneur membership to Carillonneur membership of The Guild of Carillonneurs in North America. The exam certifies performance proficiency and competency in musicianship and carillon technique. The process also offers written feedback to candidates on their playing.

The exam process is a sincere commitment to growth as a musician. Passing the exam should not be viewed as an end to musical development, but rather as the beginning of a new stage in a lifelong commitment to learning and professional connection with the GCNA.

Successful candidates may also become eligible for a grant to support their emerging artistry.

Exam at-a-glance

The exam includes 3 stages which are all conducted anonymously:

Teacher verification stage: A teacher or mentor verifies your exam readiness and repertoire and signs your application materials.
Recording stage: You record performances of music of medium or greater difficulty, including 2 required pieces chosen from the lists set by the exam committee. If the exam jury passes your recordings, you progress to the final stage.
Congress recital stage: At the annual GCNA Congress, you'll play a brief, public exam recital. If the jury passes the recital and a majority of GCNA Carillonneur members present vote to approve their recommendation, you pass the exam!

All stages are described in detail in the official exam guidelines.

How to apply

Before applying, you must first become a member of the GCNA, which costs US$40 annually (or US$25 for full-time students).

To initiate the exam, fill out an application form and email it to the Carillonneur Exam Committee co-chairs, Jeremy Chesman and Margaret Pan, at exam@gcna.org. The deadline to apply is October 16, 2025.

Download 2026 application form

In their reply, they will assign you a candidate number. Enter your candidate number (not your name) in the space provided below and use the PayPal "Pay Now" button to make your payment. You must make your PayPal payment within 1 week of receiving your candidate number.

Alternatively, you may mail a printed application form and a US$40 check made payable to "The GCNA" to the following address:

GCNA Exam Chairs

c/o Prof. Jeremy Chesman

901 South National Ave.

Springfield, MO 65897-0094

United States

Exam materials

Official documents

Guidelines (2026 to be posted soon; 2025)
Proof of performance form
Watermark file (Microsoft Word document) for creating music copies for the jury

Required pieces

Required pieces for 2026
Category	Piece	Publisher
Technically difficult (choose 1)	Gloria, from Nativity Triptych, by Ronald Barnes	ACME
	Dies irae, from Gregorian Triptych, by John Courter	GCNA (PDF, hard copy)
	Fuga, from Sonate, by Henk Badings	Donemus
	Sketch 1 (Moderato), from Three Sketches, by Ronald Barnes (NB: a list of errata in the published score is also available from ACME's webpage)	ACME
	Sanctus, from Mass of the Sacred Heart, by John Hammond	ACME
	Ciacona, from Suite in D Minor for Harpsichord (HWV 448), by George Frideric Handel, arr. Bernard Winsemius	Beiaardcentrum Nederland
	Reflexies by Jacques Maassen (Performance note for candidates: the fourth 8th note in the lowest voice of measure 36 should be F♮, not F♯ (i.e. there should be a natural sign in front of that note).)	Donemus
	Conditor Alme, from A Carillon Book for the Liturgical Year, Part One: Advent, by Roy Hamlin Johnson	GCNA (PDF, hard copy)
	Reflections, from Three Short Pieces, by Gary White	GCNA (PDF, hard copy)
Expressive (choose 1)	Aria Hexafonica, from Suite II, by Henk Badings	Koninklijke Beiaardschool
	Land Beyond the Clouds, from 14 Preludes on Appalachian White Spirituals, by Ronald Barnes	ACME
	"I Wonder as I Wander," by John Niles, arr. Milford Myhre	GCNA (PDF only)
	Notule No. 1 by Émilien Allard	GCNA (PDF, hard copy)
	Asteroids by Gary White	GCNA (PDF, hard copy)
	Ave Maria by Franz Schubert, arr. Timothy Hurd	ACME
	"Wondrous Love," an Appalachian folk song arr. Milford Myhre	GCNA (PDF, hard copy)
	Aria, from Goldberg Variations (BWV 988), by Johann Sebastian Bach, arr. Gideon Bodden	Gideon Bodden
	Poème des pierres, from Poèmes, by Émilien Allard (Candidates may incorporate the changes indicated in the following errata* into their performances, but will not be penalized if they do not.)*	GCNA (PDF only)

Download past required piece lists

Jurors

Jurors are appointed annually by the Board of Directors. The exam committee chairs are not jurors.

For the 2026 exam cycle, they are to be appointed.
For the 2025 exam cycle, they are Carolyn Bolden, Keiran Cantilina, Jim Fackenthal, Helen Hofmeister, and David Hunsberger, with Wade FitzGerald and Annie Gao as alternates.

Special accommodations

If you need to request special accommodations, email the Carillonneur Exam Committee co-chairs at exam@gcna.org by the initial application deadline. The President and the co-chairs will consider each case individually.